Trademark Films and The Weinstein Company have announced that principal photography has started on My Week with Marilyn for 7 weeks at Pinewood Studios and on location in and around London. Michelle Williams plays the iconic Marilyn Monroe alongside a fantastic British cast including Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson and Julia Ormond. The film chronicles a week in the life of Marilyn Monroe in which she escapes the shackles of her Hollywood career and embraces British life with Colin Clark. Directed by Simon Curtis and produced by David Parfitt, the film is based on Colin Clark's diaries and has been adapted for the screen by Adrian Hodges.

In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark, just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl DVD, the film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe, who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller.

Nearly 40 years on, his diary account 'The Prince, the Showgirl and Me' was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn - this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.

Marilyn Monroe is played by the Academy Award nominated Michelle Williams (The soon to be released Blue Valentine, Shutter Island, Brokeback Mountain) and Tony award winning Eddie Redmayne (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Good Shepherd) stars as Colin Clark. Kenneth Branagh (Director of upcoming Thor, Wallander) plays Sir Laurence Olivier with Judi Dench (Quantum of Solace) as Dame Sybil Thorndike. They are joined by the very best of British acting talent including Julia Ormond (Temple Grandin, Che, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Vivien Leigh, Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible 2) as Arthur Miller, Zoë Wanamaker (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), Emma Watson (Harry Potter series), Toby Jones (Frost/Nixon, Infamous), Philip Jackson (Little Voice), Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter series), Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park), Simon Russell Beale (An Ideal Husband) and Dominic Cooper (Tamara Drewe, An Education, Mamma Mia!).

Simon Curtis directs. His credits include the BAFTA and Emmy winning Cranford, the International Emmy winning A Short Stay in Switzerland and the Golden Globe nominated Five Days. The film is produced by Academy Award and BAFTA winner David Parfitt (Shakespeare in Love, The Madness of King George, I Capture the Castle) and the screenplay is by Adrian Hodges (Tom & Viv, The Ruby in the Smoke and David Copperfield). It is based on Colin Clark's diaries, 'The Prince, The Showgirl and Me' and 'My Week with Marilyn.'

The film is produced by Trademark Films and is financed and distributed by The Weinstein Company. BBC Films and Lipsync Productions are also financing the picture. It was developed in association with the UK Film Council and BBC Films.

David Parfitt, Managing Director, Trademark Films, comments: "We are delighted to be re-establishing our successful partnership with the incomparable, irrepressible Harvey Weinstein. We have a superb cast and crew thanks in no small part to the support of The Weinstein Company and our incredible development partners: UK Film Council and BBC Films."

Harvey Weinstein from The Weinstein Company says: "We are truly thrilled to be working with the immensely talented Simon Curtis on his feature debut, with our trusted partners and good friends producer David Parfitt, Christine Langan and BBC Films, from a remarkable true story, beautifully realised script, stellar cast and top-notch crew, we couldn't be happier embarking on this production."

Christine Langan, Creative Director of BBC Films, adds: "With his illustrious background in BBC drama, we are proud to be supporting Simon Curtis in his movie debut. The brilliant host of talent that Simon, along with Oscar winning producer David Parfitt, has brought together to tell this gem of a British story is truly exciting and we are privileged to be going on this journey with the magnificent Harvey Weinstein."