May 7, 2016 - 17:03 AMT
Annette Bening to topline “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” romance

Annette Bening, Jamie Bell and Julie Walters will star in the romance “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” for James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and Colin Vaines.

IM Global is co-financing the film, which has acquired international distribution rights. It will launch sales next week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Shooting will begin in the U.K. on June 27 with Paul McGuigan (“Sherlock”) directing. The production will take place at Pinewood Studios and on location in London and Liverpool.

The story is based on the memoir by British actor Peter Turner and follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner and the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover grows into a deeper relationship.

Grahame won an Oscar for her performance in “The Bad and the Beautiful.” The book focuses on Graham turning to Turner for support when she reached the terminal stage of stomach cancer in 1981.

The screenplay is written by Matt Greenhalgh, whose credits include “Control” and “Nowhere Boy.”

Broccoli and her brother Michael G. Wilson own EON Productions and have produced the last eight Bond films together, including “Skyfall” and “Spectre.”

Pan Macmillan will republish the book in June in the U.K. The news was first reported by Screen.