Just a short post today to bring you all three pieces of exciting news for the M. R. James aficionado:
Fans of the long running A Ghost Story For Christmas strand will be delighted to learn that writer/director Mark Gatiss will be making a return to BBC Two this Christmas with another Jamesian adaptation, The Mezzotint. Details have just been revealed following completion of principal photography, which, judging from the slate pictured on the BBC website, took place entirely last week.
Rory Kinnear will star as the protagonist and recipient of the titular mezzotint, Mr. Williams, and Robert Bathurst will fill the role of Mr. Garside. The BBC press release also revealed the names of an additional five cast members, including Frances Barber as a “Mrs. Ambrigail”, suggesting a significant expansion on James’ original story and, I expect, a dramatisation of the actual events depicted in the haunted print. While some will no doubt find issue with these changes, it seems to me a justifiable direction to take when attempting to translate this particular story to the screen. Despite some alterations I’ve largely enjoyed Mr. Gatiss’ previous adaptations and am keen to see what he does with The Mezzotint. It’s no bad thing that those of us interested in James have such a high-profile individual willing and able to get these dramatic works commissioned in the first place for us all to enjoy, and I was most disappointed we missed out on a new entry into the series in 2020.
Continuing the theme of adaptations of James’ works, director Chris Crow has just announced a new feature-length adaptation of James’ classic A Warning to the Curious, currently in development and scheduled to begin shooting this coming winter. According to the post on Chris’ website, the film “embraces the original story whilst elevating the Folk Horror and Psychological Horror elements”. What this means for adherence to the spirit of the original tale remains to be seen, but I will certainly be following this project with interest.
Finally, and slightly late, is news that Dr. Jane Mainley-Piddock’s new book Casting the Runes: The Letters of M. R. James, which I have discussed previously, achieved its funding goal through crowd-funded publisher Unbound toward the end of January, and is now in the writing stage. The most recent update from the start of February provides an insight into the current state of progress with the transcriptions. Following the funding goal announcement, Dr. Mainley-Piddock has also revealed that the aforementioned MRJ superfan Mark Gatiss will be providing a foreword to the completed book.
Although the funding target has now been met, there is still time to back the project and receive one of the numerous available rewards should you wish to. Full details (along with updates) can be found on the project’s page over on Unbound.
Duncan J. Rule.
Antiquarian Ghosts 