Rebecca Ferguson joins The Magic Faraway Tree film adaptation

Photo by Chianella James

Neal Street Productions, Elysian Film Group and Ashland Hill Media Finance have released the final casting announcement for their upcoming film adaptation of Enid Blyton’s beloved children’s classic, The Magic Faraway Tree. Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Mission Impossible, Silo, The Greatest Showman) has joined the cast in the role of DAME SNAP

Ferguson will play the story’s terrifying headmistress, one of Blyton’s most iconic villains.

Director Ben Gregor commented, “Rebecca is a towering screen presence, one of the finest actors of her generation, and will be an electrifying addition to our movie.”

Ferguson joins the cast which, as previously announced, includes two-time Academy Award-nominee, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Winner Andrew Garfield (tick, tick… BOOM!, Hacksaw Ridge) and Golden Globe and two-time Emmy Award-winner Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers, Women Talking). Ferguson is represented by Chalcot Square, CAA and Anonymous Content.

Based on The Faraway Tree series of novels for children, The Magic Faraway Tree follows Polly and Tim Thompson and their children, Beth, Joe and Fran, who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. There, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric occupants.

The inhabitants of the tree, capable of transporting visitors to fantastical far-off lands, will be played by Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls) cast as beloved woodland fairy Silky, Nonso Anozie (Sweet Tooth, Ted Lasso) as self-appointed group leader Moonface, Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer, The Outlaws) as Dame Washalot and Dustin Demri-Burns (Slow Horses, The Great) as Saucepan Man. Rounding out the cast of the magical denizens of the woodlands will be Mark Heap (Friday Night Dinner, The School for Good and Evil) as Mr. Oom Boom Boom and Oliver Chris (Trying, My Lady Jane) as Mr. Watzisname.

British icons Sirs Lenny Henry, Michael Palin and Simon Russell Beale have also been announced and will play a trio of mystical wise men from the Land of Know-Alls.

The film is produced by Academy Award-nominee Pippa Harris (Empire of Light, 1917, Call the Midwife) and Nicolas Brown (Britannia, Informer, Penny Dreadful) of Neal Street Productions, along with Danny Perkins (Greatest Days) of Elysian Film Group, and Jane Hooks (Golda, Living). Executive Producers include Ashland Hill Media Finance’s Simon Williams, Joe Simpson and Jonathan Bross and Palisades Park Pictures’ Tamara Birkemoe. Adapted by BAFTA Award-winner Simon Farnaby (Wonka, Paddington 2), the film is directed by Ben Gregor (Britannia, Cuckoo, Black Ops, Fatherhood).

Ferguson’s casting in The Magic Faraway Tree adds to her impressive, ever-growing cinematic slate. In 2024 Ferguson is shooting 4 feature films including the Peaky Blinders movie opposite Cillian Murphy, Mercy opposite Chris Pratt, and Kathryn Bigelow’s next feature film. Season 2 of her Apple series, Silo, in which she stars and produces, will release on 15th November 2024.

Ashland Hill Media Finance is fully financing The Magic Faraway Tree. Palisades Park Pictures is handling worldwide sales, with CAA Media Finance co-repping US rights.