Oscar-winners Colin Firth (A Single Man, The King’s Speech), Julianne Moore (May December) and Oscar nominee Laura Linney (Ozark) form an unconventional love triangle in Sharon Maguire’s comedy The Joy of Sex, which started filming in the UK this week.
Published in 1972, the sex manual The Joy of Sex was a scandalous sensation, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide, spending 70 weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Sex in the suburbs was never the same again.
Now from Sharon Maguire, director of the iconic hits Bridget Jones’s Diary and its sequel Bridget Jones’s Baby, comes the hilarious, heartbreaking and incredible true story of how this most unusual of recipe books was born.
Alex Comfort (Firth), a British science professor who specialized in the lifelong study of molluscs, thought he was writing ‘an antidote to war’. The film tells the story of the passionate and complicated romantic trio of Comfort, his wife Ruth (Linney) and her best friend Jane (Moore). This unconventional throuple in the quiet suburbs of North London challenged societal norms, lasting 10 years. It was the laboratory where recipes outlined in the book, as well as the instantly recognizable hand-drawn sketches of hirsute hippies having sex, were born. The book was erotic, funny, and wholesome, reinventing sex and love for ordinary people and giving them permission to enjoy sex for the first time ever.
“The Joy of Sex was never allowed inside my Irish Catholic household in the 70s.” says Maguire. “And as a result, its hidden promise had me in its thrall. The irony is that the book was an unashamed sex guide for loving couples, yet it was created out of a somewhat tempestuous triangle. Dissecting this triangle lies at the heart of the movie. It’s a story which is surprising, moving and very funny.”
Firth, Moore and Linney are joined by David Tennant (Dr Who), Jason Watkins (The Crown) and Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread). Script is written by Sharon Maguire and Lise Mayer.
Producers are Alison Owen and Debra Hayward of Monumental Films, Anand Tucker of Seven Stories Film & TV and Matthias Greving of Kinescope Pictures. Executive Producers are Deepak Nayar of Kintop Pictures, Colleen Woodcock of Seven Stories, Philip Von Alvensleben and Isabell Von Alvensleben of Alive Entertainment, Marie-Claire Benson and Emma Berkofsky of Lionsgate UK, and Embankment Films.
The film is pre-sold to UK, 23 territories throughout Continental Europe and Africa, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Embankment Films is handling global sales and co-represents USA domestic rights with CAA Media Finance and WME Independent. Senior Lending provided by DZ Bank and gap funding by Alive Entertainment. Lionsgate distributes in the UK. Wildbunch distribute in German speaking territories.
Firth is represented by Independent Talent (UK), CAA (US) and Prosper PR (publicity). Moore is represented by WME, Entertainment 360 and The Apex PR (publicity). Linney is represented by CAA, Lighthouse Management & Media and The Apex PR (publicity).
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