Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy will star in the romantic comedy Hysteria, a tale that charts the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England which Paris-based Elle Driver is selling internationally. Forthcoming Films, Beachfront Films and Informant Media are behind the picture, Screen reports.
The screenplay by Stephen Dyer and Jonah Lisa Dyer will be directed by Tanya Wexler. Other cast includes Jonathan Pryce and Rupert Everett. Tom Ortenberg's One Way Out Media represents North American rights. Forthcoming Films' Sarah Curtis, Beachfront Films' Tracey Becker and Informant Media's Judy Cairo are producing. Shooting is to start in London and Luxembourg in October.
Per Screen, Dancy will play the doctor Mortimer Granville who champions the vibrator while searching for a cure for a women's unexplained anger. Sparks fly when Granville is challenged by a noted female physician's daughter (Gyllenhaal) who deems the device to be frivolous.
Source: Screen Daily, Hollywood Wiretap