Cate Blanchett is set to star in and produce drama The New Boy from writer-director Warwick Thornton.
Set in 1940s Australia, The New Boy, according to the film’s description, “depicts the mesmeric story of a 9-year-old aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun (Blanchett). The new boy’s presence disturbs the delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.”
Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair will also star alongside Blanchett in the film, which is set to begin filming in October in Australia.
Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Georgie Pym will be producing via their Dirty Films banner, along with Kath Shelper for Scarlett Pictures, who worked with Thornton on his Cannes-winning feature Samson & Delilah and the doc The Darkside.
Roadshow Films will be distributing the movie in Australia and New Zealand. CAA Media Finance and UTA will be handling sales for North America, with The Veterans managing sales for the remainder of the globe.
Dirty Films’ upcoming projects include A Manual for Cleaning Women with director Pedro Almodóvar and The Champions from director Ben Stiller. Blanchett and Dirty Films are represented at CAA.
Thornton is represented by UTA and attorney Jackoway Austen. Mailman is represented at Sue Barnett and Associates. Blair is represented at Independent Talent Group, UTA and Australia’s Shanahan Management.
