While Andrea Arnold is putting the finishing touches on her next feature Bird, starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, the British director has already unveiled her next project, one based on a true story. Scarlett Johansson will lead Arnold’s crime thriller Featherwood, according to Deadline.
Johansson will take the role of Carol Blevins, “a heroin addict and ‘Aryan Princess featherwood’ (property of a gang member) who became one of the FBI’s most important informants during an epic, six-year investigation into the murderous, neo-Nazi crime and drug syndicate known as the Aryan Brotherhood Of Texas. Blevins, who lived with the gang, memorized details, pre-empted murders and interrupted robberies, helped convict 13 members of the group. However, her harrowing journey left her with significant physical and mental scars and she lives under constant threat of reprisal by the ABT.” Though no production timetable has been unveiled, Johansson’s schedule is fairly clear, so if sales go well at EFM, expect it to proceed soon.
Ahead of the Berlinale premiere of his sci-fi feature The Empire, Bruno Dumont has set his next film. Screen Daily reports he’ll helm the Romeo and Juliet-inspired Red Rocks, which will be set on a summer on the French Riviera. With production expected to kick off this year, the film will follow the “rivalry between two gangs of kids, a blend of locals and summer visitors, who compete in the perilous game of cliff jumping.”
Lastly, Dan Trachtenberg will stay in the world of Predator for his next feature. Following up Prey, he’ll helm Badlands––no, no relation to Malick’s debut––a new standalone feature in the action thriller franchise. While a shoot is on deck for later this year and casting underway, according to Deadline, no plot details have been unveiled yet for the project co-written by Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison. There’s also no word yet if it’ll head to theaters or be relegated to Hulu, but it is confirmed that a separate Prey 2 is still in development.