Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's compelling Victorian drama of Dorian Gray is about to return to the big screen. Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) is the title role of Gray, a Victorian aristocrat who will never again age after a painting has been made of him. The painting will suffer all his sins and the ravages of time, and Dorian will not, so long as he never lays eyes on it. The movie also has Colin Firth, Rebecca Hall, and Rachel Hurd-Wood.

The script was written by Toby Finlay. "It’s a timeless story with a great deal of contemporary currency regarding the desire to halt the aging process, the pursuit of pleasure and the obsession with celebrity culture,” says Finlay. What interested me most was the clash between the decadent Victorian ways of old and the modern Edwardian era just around the corner. Wilde really had written the first draft of AMERICAN PSYCHO! I wanted to tap into those psychosexual aspects, making the mysterious picture not just an object but also something Dorian carries around inside him. I was shocked by how many film and television versions there have been, so people clearly feel compelled to dramatize the issues at its heart. I wanted to be in the movie after reading Toby’s script, because my character, Lord Henry, actually has an arc to play, whereas the book contains no journey or conflict. The ‘sins of the father’ aspect coming home to roost regarding his daughter was something I could sink my teeth into, not just standing around pretty period sets spouting famous Wilde lines.”

The Oliver Parker directed film will not be a page for page reshoot. Instead more will be done with Dorian's immortality. Longer time frames will be used and new characters will be brought in.

I'm a big Wilde fan and this is one of my favorites by him. I really hope they did it justice. The movie was filmed last year and has a September UK release date. A US date has yet to be determined.