The Lady in the Van "The Lady in the Van" was greenlit on 3 June 2014, with TriStar Productions and BBC Films working together to make the film adaptation of Alan Bennett's West End hit. TriStar won the film rights to handle worldwide distribution, while the BBC was the first to show the film on television in the UK. The involvement of Maggie Smith and Nicholas Hytner was announced simultaneously with the film, but they were attached to the project as early as 9 May (coincidentally Bennett's 80th birthday). Both of them had collaborated with Bennett in the past; Hytner on "The Madness of King
Lady in the Water another 62.1% to $2.7 million. As of 2011, its total was $42.285 million. In addition, the film made only $30.5 million in the foreign box office, pulling its tally to approximately $72.785 million internationally. "Lady in the Water" received negative reviews around the time of its release. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 25% based on 213 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A far-fetched story with little suspense and unconvincing scenarios, "Lady In The Water" feels contrived, pretentious, and rather silly." On Metacritic, the film has