Jean Doumanian Productions announced today that the Academy Award® nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Ben Mendelsohn (The Place Beyond the Pines) will star in the upcoming film, Blackbird, helmed by acclaimed theatrical director Benedict Andrews (The Maids) in his first film outing. Shooting is scheduled to commence in the UK in the summer of 2015.
In Blackbird, adapted by
David Harrower from his Olivier Award winning play of the same title, two people who once had a passionate affair meet again fifteen years later. Ray is confronted with his past when Una arrives unannounced at his office, and they are forced to revisit their relationship. Ray has made a new life for himself. Una is looking for answers. What follows in this emotional thriller is an unflinching excavation of damaged love. The consequences are shattering.
Blackbird will be produced by
Jean Doumanian and
Patrick Daly.
David Harrower is an internationally acclaimed playwright currently living and working in Glasgow. Previous work includes Ciara, Traverse Theatre; Public Enemy (adapt.), Young Vic Theatre; Good With People, a Traverse Theatre and Datum Point Co-Production in association with Paines Plough; Calum's Road, Communicado Theatre Co, National Theatre of Scotland; A Slow Air, Tron Theatre, Glasgow; Good With People, Paines Plough/ Oran Mor, Traverse Theatre; 365, National Theatre of Scotland; Blackbird, Edinburgh International Festival, West End, Manhattan Theatre Club and Sydney Theatre Company; Dark Earth, Traverse Theatre; Presence,
Royal Court Theatre; Kill the Old Torture Their Young, Traverse Theatre and Knives in Hens, Traverse Theatre and
Bush Theatre. Adaptations include: Public Enemy, Young Vic Theatre Government Inspector, Young Vic Theatre; Sweet Nothings, a new version of Schnitzler's Liebelei, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Young Vic Theatre; Tales from the Vienna Woods,
Royal National Theatre; Ivanov,
Royal National Theatre; The Girl on the Sofa, Edinburgh International Festival and the Schaubuhne, Berlin; Woyzeck, Edinburgh Lyceum Theatre; Six Characters in Search of an Author, Young Vic Theatre;
Mary Stuart, National Theatre of Scotland and The Chrysalids,
Royal National Theatre, BT Connections. David is currently working on White Male Heart for Brocken Spectre/Samson Films and is also currently developing an original series idea for Ecosse/BBC Scotland. He is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.
Benedict Andrews is a multi-award winning director of theatre and opera. Over the past decade, Benedict has built up a remarkable and singular body of work in Australia and Europe. He is known for his radical versions of masterpieces by Shakespeare,
Anton Chekhov and
Tennessee Williams, as well as his stagings of cutting edge contemporary writers. His work has been described as visionary and praised for its innovative staging, arresting visual style and visceral performances. This year he opened A Streetcar Named Desire (starring
Gillian Anderson and
Ben Foster) at London's Young Vic Theatre, followed by the tour of Sydney Theatre Company's The Maids (starring
Cate Blanchett and
Isabelle Huppert) to
Lincoln Center Festival. His prior Young Vic production Three Sisters (2012) won the London Critics Circle Best Director award. His prior STC production of Gross Und Klein won him his third Helpmann Best Director award and toured to Paris, London, Vienna and Recklinghausen. This autumn Benedict opens La Boheme at Dutch National Opera, a co-production with
English National Opera. His prior ENO production, Detlev Glanert's Caligula (2012), was nominated for an Olivier award and toured to Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires. Other recent opera includes: Macbeth at Royal Danish Opera; Le Nozze Di Figaro at Sydney Opera House; The Fiery Angel at Komische Oper, Berlin. Benedict has also worked extensively at the Schaubühne Berlin, National Theatre Iceland and Belvoir Street Sydney, where his Measure for Measure, won Best Direction and Best Mainstage Play at the 2010 Sydney Theatre Awards. He is represented by UTA in the US, Judy Daish Associates in the UK, and The Yellow Agency in Australia.
Rooney Mara mesmerized audiences and critics alike in the
David Fincher directed, U.S. adaptation of the popular Stieg Larsson book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Mara portrayed the female lead "Lisbeth Salander" opposite
Daniel Craig and
Robin Wright and was recognized by the National Board of Review for Breakthrough Performance as well as earned a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, Drama. In 2013, Mara starred in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Competitive entry Ain't Them Bodies Saints for writer/ director
David Lowery with
Casey Affleck and
Ben Foster. The drama tells the story of a young mother who struggles to cope with life after her husband is imprisoned for a deadly crime. The film was released in theaters in August 2013. Also in 2013, Mara starred in Side Effects directed by
Steven Soderbergh and opposite
Channing Tatum and
Jude Law. Mara plays a woman who turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety and depression. The film was released by Open Road Films on February 8, 2013 and was an official entry at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival. In December 2013, Mara appeared in the Academy & Golden Globe Best Picture nominated film Her. Directed by
Spike Jonze and starring
Joaquin Phoenix and
Amy Adams, the film chronicles a man who finds love and companionship with the computerized voice of a personal operating system. Mara wrapped production alongside
Ryan Gosling,
Michael Fassbender and
Natalie Portman in the "Untitled Terrence Malick" film. Mara also completed production in
Stephen Daldry's film Trash, set in the slums of Brazil with a script written by
Richard Curtis. The film will debuted at the Rome Film Festival in October 2014. Early this year, Mara completed production on Carol directed by
Todd Haynes and starring opposite
Cate Blanchett. Based off the controversial romance novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, the drama tells a story about a burgeoning romantic relationship between two women in 1950s New York. Film 4 is producing and
The Weinstein Company will distribute the feature in 2015. Mara recently wrapped production on Pan, directed by
Joe Wright. She stars in the film with
Hugh Jackman and
Amanda Seyfried, playing the role of Tiger Lily. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Additionally, Mara is in pre-production as producer and star in Annapurna Pictures' A House in the Sky. Based off The New York Times bestselling memoir, the abduction drama tells the story of Amanda Lindhout's 15-month imprisonment in Somalia. She is represented by Management 360 and WME.
Ben Mendelsohn is a critically acclaimed and award winning actor who most recently was awarded the 2013 British Independent Film Award for his performance in David Mackenzie's Starred Up. In 2010, Ben starred opposite
Guy Pearce in David Michod's highly acclaimed feature Animal Kingdom (winner of the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Jury Prize). His performance in the film earned him both of Australia's top awards - an AFI Award and an IF Award for Best Lead Actor. Off of his incredible performance in Animal Kingdom, he landed three starring roles in coveted films;
Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, opposite
Christian Bale and
Anne Hathaway,
Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines with
Ryan Gosling and
Bradley Cooper and Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly, opposite
Brad Pitt. His other recent work includes Rachel Ward's feature debut Beautiful Kate alongside
Rachel Griffiths (for which he received an AFI Award nomination for Best Lead Actor), David Caesar's Prime Mover, Alex Proyas' Knowing starring Nicholas Cage and
Rose Byrne, and
Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Ben is currently shooting the lead of Unt Kzk Netflix's new show, he just finished shooting the Co-lead of Mississippi Grind opposite
Ryan Reynolds and has
Ridley Scott's Exodus in the can. He'll next be seen in
Ryan Gosling directorial debut, Lost River. He also shot Slow West with
Michael Fassbender last year and is coming out in Black Sea directed by Kevin Macdonald alongside
Jude Law. He is repped by CAA and United Management.
Jean Doumanian Productions is an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated, and Tony Award winning film, television and theatrical production company. Films include the upcoming Galveston (dir. Janus Metz and written by Nic Pizzolatto, creator of HBO's True Detective) as well as August: Osage County (dir.
John Wells, two 2014 Academy Award nominations), The Ox (dir. Sven Nykvist); The Spanish Prisoner (dir.
David Mamet); All the Real Girls (dir.
David Gordon Green); Wild Man Blues (dir.
Barbara Kopple) and
Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, Don't Drink the Water, Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown and Small Time Crooks. Upcoming adaptations include the mini-series Galway Bay, based on the novel of the same name, to be directed by 6 time Oscar nominee
Jim Sheridan.
Jean Doumanian Productions has produced over 25 theatrical productions, including the recent hits Chimerica (5 Oliver Awards including Best New Play), The Mountaintop in London (Olivier Award: Best New Play) and on Broadway starring
Samuel L. Jackson and
Angela Bassett, August: Osage County (5 Tony Awards including Best Play, 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), The Book of Mormon (4 Olivier Awards including Best New Musical, 9 Tony Awards including Best Musical), and the 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman (2 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Play).
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
