WEST Dorset will take a star turn when much-anticipated film Far From the Madding Crowd is released on May 1.

Filmmakers spent several months in Dorset filming the new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel in the summer of 2013.

And Dorset’s lush scenery will provide the perfect backdrop to the tale of romance and passion, with filming taking place around Beaminster, Dorchester and Sherborne.

Watch the trailer here:

The film is a collaboration between British production company DNA films, studio Fox Searchlight and the BBC, is directed by Thomas Vinterberg and stars Carey Mulligan.

It is hoped the film will be as big a hit as the classic 1967 adaptation, which starred Julie Christie  and Terence Stamp.

Mulligan plays heroine Bathsheba Everdene, an independent woman who attracts three very different suitors: sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), dashing soldier Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge) and wealthy bachelor William Boldwood (Michael Sheen).

The cast and crew were spotted around Beaminster as filming continued – Tom Sturridge and fiancé Sienna Miller were seen out shopping and Michael Sheen enjoyed the hospitality of the Bridge House Hotel.

West Dorset residents will also finally get the chance to see if they made it on screen, lots of them having been recruited as extras.

Mapperton House near Beaminster was transformed for filming, its grounds turned into a farmyard and false walls were put up.

The Countess of Sandwich told the Echo: “It was great having the front of Mapperton turned into an amazing farmyard – lowing longhorn cows, geese, chickens, yokel locals with straws in their hair and elegant Carey Mulligan.”

Beaminster resident Michael Hughes works at Strummer Pink in Beaminster. He said they were hoping the new film would bring a boost to tourism and business in the area.

He added: “We have got an extraordinary little corner of the south and it’s absolutely wonderful to see absolutely world-class film-makers down here working.”