A SPECIAL Dorset premiere of the Far From the Madding Crowd is being held in the heart of Hardy Country.

The Electric Palace in Bridport is hosting a gala screening of the adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel, which was shot in the county, on Friday, April 17 – some two weeks before the film’s release on May 1.

Crews spent several months filming in Dorset in the summer of 2013, with the grounds of Mapperton House near Beaminster transformed into a farmyard and shooting also taking place around Dorchester and Sherborne.

The film has been directed by Thomas Vinterberg with the screenplay by David Nicholls and stars A-listers such as Carey Mulligan, Matthew Scoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge and Juno Temple.

The big screen treatment of Hardy’s classic novel is a collaboration between between British production company DNA films, studio Fox Searchlight and the BBC.

It is hoped the film will repeat the success of the 1967 adaptation of the novel, which starred Julie Christie and Terence Stamp.

The guest list has yet to be confirmed for the gala screening, but secretary of the Thomas Hardy Society Mike Nixon said the invite-only event promises to be an exciting evening.

He said: “It will be an extremely exciting event. We have waited nearly 50 years for a remake.

“We have seen a couple of reviews in the national press and they look very encouraging.

“We are very excited and it puts Hardy, if he was ever off the map, back on the map and I think that’s important for the society.”

Far From the Madding Crowd tells the story of heroine Bathsheba Everdene, played by Mulligan, who attracts three different suitors in the form of sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Schoenarts), dashing soldier Frank Troy (Sturridge) and wealthy bachelor William Boldwood (Sheen). The novel was written by Hardy in 1874 and was his first major literary success.

Mr Nixon said the story was as relevant today as it was when it was first penned by Hardy more than 140 years ago.

He said: “It’s such a good story and the other thing is it’s about a modern woman.

“Hardy actually promoted a woman as a farmer and someone in control of her own destiny rather than depending on men.

“That sort of thing makes it of its time now just as when it was written.”