Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (Red Sparrow, 45 Years) is attached to join Paul Verhoeven’s erotically charged drama Blessed Virgin, the real-life story of a visionary nun whose illicit relationship with another nun led to her execution.
It wasn’t immediately clear what supporting role she would play.
Pathe is handling international sales in Cannes and is set to distribute the film in France in 2019 (its third Verhoeven release after 1995’s Showgirls and 2006 drama Black Book).
Blessed Virgin stars Elle actress Virginie Efira as Benedetta Carlini, a novice nun capable of performing miracles, who joins an Italian convent in the late 15th century, as plague is ravaging the land. While at the convent, she begins a love affair with another woman.
Said Ben Said’s SBS Productions, which produced Elle, will produce the new film, with shooting set to start in August.
Verhoeven, best known for his Hollywood tentpoles, including Robocop, Total Recall and Basic Instinct, has enjoyed a late-career revival following Elle, which premiered in Cannes in 2016 and went on to score a best actress Oscar nomination for star Isabelle Huppert.
