On Friday, the 13th, principal photography began on the Fox Searchlight/Montecito Pictures drama simply titled Hitchcock. Anthony Hopkins will play influential auteur Alfred Hitchcock in a film about the trials of making his seminal 1960 movie, Psycho, and Helen Mirren will play Hitchcock’s wife of 54 years, Alma Reville. Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil) will direct, as his first narrative feature. Did I mention Helen Mirren?

The adaptation of the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello is touted as a love story centered on the relationship between the director and Alma, the only woman who understood him. But the supporting cast is lined with women who don’t. Scarlett Johansson will play Janet Leigh, the shrieking star of the picture, and Jessica Biel will play Vera Miles, two women who famously distrusted his vision on set. Toni Collette plays his secretary.

Rebello’s...