By Lacy Baugher for Movies on April 25th, 2013

Missing Matthew Crawley? Keep an Eye Out for Dan Stevens’ New Movie

(Photo:CrossDay Productions and Apart Films)
(Photo:CrossDay Productions and Apart Films)
Are you missing Downton Abbey’s Matthew Crawley? Has the fact that star Dan Stevens changed his hair dramatically upset your day? Well, then, do I have the movie for you – Stevens' latest upcoming project is a film called Summer in February, and it’s a period drama set on the eve of World War I, in which Stevens plays a character who is agonizing over his feelings regarding a woman he can’t have. 

Sound familiar, Matthew fans?  

The film is based on the Jonathan Smith novel of the same name and tells the story of the dramatic real-life love triangle between painter Alfred Munnings (Dominc Cooper), his best friend Gilbert Evans (Stevens) and fellow artist Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning). As you can see from the trailer below, Summer in February appears to feature a lot of angst and drama and crossed romantic signals and everything that we’re all missing in a world without Downton at the moment.

Take a look for yourself below. 

This movie basically looks like someone picked up Matthew Crawley in spaceship tractor beam and transplanted him to this other story with these other people doing a bunch of other random things. I’m okay with that. Everyone is pretty and posh, and there’s plenty of gorgeous scenery, beautiful costumes and longing glances.

Summer in February hits UK theaters in June. A US release hasn’t been announced yet – and keep in mind, the film may not get one at all. For example: Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch made both Third Star and Wreckers in the past couple years and neither of them ever made it over here until they hit video-on-demand or Netflix. But, given Stevens’ popularity in the States thanks to the Downton effect – and the fact that he has multiple other projects in the works – it seems the odds ought to be at least halfway decent that we’ll see this period piece on this side of the pond at some point. We'll hope so anyway. Fingers crossed.  

By Lacy Baugher for Movies on April 25th, 2013
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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  • Dan Stevens' Film 'Summer in February' Gets an American Release Date

    Are you already wondering what your January is going to look like now that Downton Abbey’s coming back without leading man Matthew Crawley? Not to worry though – you can still get your Dan Stevens fix this winter when his latest period drama (finally) gets a US release.

    According to Variety, Tribeca Film has acquired the US rights to romantic drama Summer in February, which stars Stevens alongside Dominic Cooper and Emily Browning. The film is a period drama set on the eve of World War I and Stevens plays a character who is agonizing over his feelings regarding a woman he can’t have. Sound familiar? Yeah, this could prove a more than adequate Downton substitute for those of us suffering from Matthew withdrawal.

    The film is based on the Jonathan Smith novel of the same name and tells the story of the dramatic real-life love triangle between painter Alfred Munnings (Cooper), his best friend Gilbert Evans (Stevens) and fellow artist Florence Carter-Wood (Browning).

    Watch the trailer below.

    By Lacy Baugher for Movies on 12/7/2013

  • Dan Stevens Talks About His New Movies and His New Look on The One Show

    Dan Stevens has been keeping pretty busy since his departure from Downton Abbey – he’s been cast as a hacker opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, a drug dealer opposite Liam Neeson, he’s done some theater opposite an Academy Award nominee, and he’s scored a new TV gig for later this year (in the new adaptation of Swallows and Arrows).

    And also apparently he's undergone a rather drastic makeover. He’s lost a significant amount of weight – somewhere in the range of thirty pounds so he says – and has also done something rather jolly with this hair. (It be fair, it’s not as dark as he had originally had for that film with Neeson, called A Walk Among the Tombtones, but it’s kind of a seriously dramatic shift.).

    Stevens appeared on the BBC teatime chat show The One Show last week to promote his new movie Summer in February in which he plays a character who is freakishly like Matthew Crawley, but since we’re all going to go swoon over this movie as soon as it manages to get released in America, let’s ignore that.

    Stevens talks a bit about saying goodbye to Downton, his upcoming film roles and has a rather adorable exchange with one of his former teachers, who also happens to be the guy that wrote the book Summer in February. And before you ask, yes, the One Show hosts are generally always like this.

    By Lacy Baugher for Actors and Actresses on 6/18/2013