Katie Aselton to Star in and Direct Thriller 'Black Rock' (Cannes)

CANNES -- Actor-director Katie Aselton will follow up her 2010 comedy The Freebie with the thriller Black Rock.

The film follows what happens when three childhood friends meet for a weekend getaway on an isolated island and discover that they have company.

Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth, Jay Paulson, Anslem Richardson and Will Bouvier will co-star with Aselton.

“I grew up watching classic suspense films and have long had the idea of making a girl-based thriller where the threat to the characters is very real, and the audience is left with the terrifying thought 'this could happen to me,’ ” said Aselton.

Aselton’s husband, Mark Duplass (Cyrus), wrote the screenplay, which Aselton will direct. Both will be executive producers. Adele Romanski (The Myth of the American Sleepover) is producing the project, which is seeking a portion of its funding through crowd-sourcing on KickStarter. As of Wednesday afternoon, the film had drawn 30 backers that have thrown in nearly $7,000 toward the filmmakers’ $20,000 goal.

Josh Braun’s Submarine is handling worldwide sales for Black Rock at the Marche de Cannes.

Repped by ICM and Untitled Entertainment, Aselton will next be seen in the comedies Our Idiot Brother and Jeff Who Lives at Home. She is also a regular on the FX series The League.

E-mail: jay.fernandez@thr.com