Dames Dench and Smith to Co-Star in Madden Film?

UK Daily Mail reports that Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith are in talks to co-star in John Madden's 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,' a film adaptation of the Deborah Moggach novel 'These Foolish Things.' Dench previously won her Academy Award under Madden's direction in 'Shakespeare in Love.' Dench last worked with Smith in the film 'Ladies in Lavender.'

'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' centers on pensioners who are outsourced to a British Raj town called Bangalore. Dench and Smith would play residents of this town living in a carehome called Dunroamin.

Contracts have yet to be signed but both women are "expected to do it." Madden and producer Graham Broadbent are currently looking for filming locations and will go into pre-production soon.

Dame Judi Dench is once of the most internationally celebrated stage and screen actresses in history. Originally trained as a set designer, Dench made her professional stage debut in 1957 with The Old Vic Company and has since performed leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, on the West End and on Broadway. Most notable was her starring performance in Cabaret in 1968. In television, she achieved success early on in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By. Her film notoriety began as Agent M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she has played in each James Bond film since. She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells" (2001). Her awards include ten BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. Dench was awarded the OBE in 1970, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988, and a Companion of Honour in 2005.