According to Deadline, Shout! Studios has landed the North American distribution rights to the beauty pageant drama Misbehaviour, starring Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game, Pride & Prejudice) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show, Belle).
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Misbehaviour is based on a true story set in 1970 when the Miss World competition took place in London, hosted by the US comedy legend, Bob Hope. It follows the newly-formed Women’s Liberation Movement that achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. Not only that, when the show resumed, the result caused uproar: the winner was not the Swedish favourite but Miss Grenada, Jennifer Hosten – the first black woman to be crowned Miss World. In a matter of hours, a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage by a crowd of angry women, and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.
The movie is directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and written by Rebecca Frayn and Gaby Chiappe. Additional cast members include Jessie Buckley (Judy, Chernobyl ), Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, The Missing), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread, Another Year), Rhys Ifans (The King’s Man, Notting Hill), and Greg Kinnear (Little Men, House of Cards).
“Misbehaviour radiates a joy all its own, and for a film about a long-forgotten seedling of the Women’s Liberation Movement, there is an undeniable currency. The first-rate ensemble delivers an endearing, funny, “stand-up-and-cheer” experience that will leave audiences immensely satisfied and deeply grateful to the real-life heroes of this story,” said Shout’s Vice President of Acquisitions Jordan Fields.
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The film is produced by Suzanne Mackie and Sarah Jane Wheale. Executive producers include Andy Harries and Rebecca Frayn of Left Bank Pictures, Cameron McCracken and Jenny Borgars of Pathé UK, Rose Garnett of BBC Films, Andrea Scarso of Ingenious Media, and Natascha Wharton of the BFI.
The Pathé International project will get a theatrical day-and-date release later this year followed by a rollout across all major entertainment platforms.
