Manis Film announced that production started onBig Sky, the English-language debut of Mexican helmer Jorge Michel Grau (the original We Are What We Are). The film will star Bella Thorne (upcoming The Familymoon with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day with Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner; and Disney Channel's Shake It Up), Kyra Sedgwick (Emmy and Golden Globe winner for The Closer; The Possession; upcoming films Kill Your Darlings, Rays of Light and Reach Me), Frank Grillo (The Grey; End of Watch; Zero Dark Thirty; upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier), and Aaron Tveit (Les Miserables; Howl; USA'sGraceland). Principal photography commenced this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
"Big Sky is a suspenseful and thrilling story that will have audiences on the edge of their seats as our troubled characters tumble further into peril," says Randy Manis of Manis Film. "We are very excited to share the talent of our skilled director and the highly talented cast that he has attracted".
Jorge Michel Grau's Big Sky is the tale of Hazel (Bella Thorne), a teenage girl who suffers a mortal fear of open spaces. She never leaves her bedroom, which has put a strain on the relationship with her strung-out mom, Dee (Kyra Sedgwick), and is starting to take its toll on both of them. In a last ditch attempt to cure her daughter, Dee enrolls Hazel in a high-end treatment facility in the desert, hoping they will finally find the help they require so that Hazel can begin to move forward from the horrors of her past that triggered her illness. But help is the last thing that they get. When two brothers, Jesse (Frank Grillo) and Pru (Aaron Tveit), interfere with Hazel and Dee's plans in the worst possible way, Hazel must confront her paralyzing fears before they consume her and is forced to fight for her survival in the harshest conditions, all while avoiding the cunning schemes hatched by Jesse.
In the tradition of such high-intensity neo-Hitchcockian thrillers as Breakdown, Dead Calm, Panic Room, and Open Water, Big Sky will take viewers to a whole new place -- inside a mind that can be its own worst enemy.
Big Sky is based on an original screenplay by Evan M. Wiener (Monogamy). The producing team consists of Manis (Margin Call, The Calling, Kill Your Darlings), Matthew Salloway (The Butler, So Undercover), and Christina Papagjika (The Butler). Christine Vachon is executive producing for Killer Films (Far From Heaven, Mildred Pierce, Boys Don't Cry), along with Jeffrey V. Mandel of Big LEO Media (Murderball). Benaroya Pictures' genre fare subsidiary AKA pictures is co-financing the film, with Clayton Young serving as executive producer for AKA. Ricky Tollman (The Calling) is co-producer. Santiago Sanchez (Somos lo Que Hay, 72) is the director of photography.
Voltage Pictures (Don Jon, The Hurt Locker) will represent foreign rights at the upcoming American Film Market. Creative Artists Agency and Manis Film co-represent domestic rights.
Bella Thorne is represented by WME and LBI Entertainment, Kyra Sedgwick is represented by UTA and Impression Entertainment, Frank Grillo is represented by CAA and Management 360, and Aaron Tveit is represented by CAA and Elin Flack Management.
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