May 27, 2010 14:56

'Skins' to be turned into a movie

Bristol teens' tales of sex, drink and drugs set to hit cinemas next summer

Channel 4 teen drama Skins is set for the big screen after the producers confirmed a film will be made The movie version of Skins is set to start filming in September for a release next summer.

Skins has become known for being the launching pad for young British talent, after Dev Patel went on to star in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, and Nicholas Hoult won critical acclaim starring in last year's A Single Man.

Kaya Scodelario, who plays queen bee Effy, is the latest set for a big screen career after being cast as Cathy in Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights, apparently amid competition from the likes of Natalie Portman and Gemma Arterton.

The show changed almost its entire cast in the third season in order to retain the sixth-form as the show's setting – and will do again for the forthcoming fifth season.

However, producers say the Skins film will bring back characters from the first two series, along with new characters. A spokesperson could not confirm to NME if that meant Patel was to return.

Steve Christian, executive producer of the Skins film and distribution company CinemaNX, said: "The biggest critics of Skins are the Skins fans so it's going to be a big challenge. The programme has this incredible fanbase despite all the characters changing. What we don't want to do is to make a 90-minute episode of Skins. It would be a complete disaster".

The most recent series of Skins was the most watched to date, with more than 1.5m people tuning in, and has become something of a guilty pleasure for older viewers as well.

"Look, I'm a middle-aged bloke with two kids, I should hate Skins but I absolutely love it," said Christian. "And then I talk to my mates, people not in the film industry, and it's the same thing – they watch it and they love it and it's all down to the quality of the production."

The script will be written by regular Skins writer Jack Thorne, working with creator Bryan Elsley. Charles Martin, a regular Skins director, is set to helm the project.