“Cabin in the Woods” star Anna Hutchison has landed the female lead opposite Nicolas Cage in the indie thriller “Vengeance: A Love Story,” TheWrap has learned.
Johnny Martin is directing from a script by John Mankiewicz (“House of Cards”), who adapted Joyce Carol Oates‘ award-winning 2003 novel “Rape: A Love Story.” Cage was previously attached to direct, but a scheduling conflict forced the actor to hand the reins to Martin, according to insiders.
Cage plays a detective who seeks vengeance against four men who assaulted a single mother in front of her own young daughter. Hutchison will play the woman in question, who suffers from survivor’s guilt as she faces down her attackers in a courtroom where she practically finds herself on trial.
The film aims to explore the impact of that brutal act of violence on three generations of women. Cage has said he was excited to work on “Vengeance” and tell “a tale of the suffering too many women have endured.”
Michael Mendelsohn (“I Am Wrath”) of Patriot Pictures is producing “Love Story,” having previously worked with Cage on several films including “Lord of War,” “The Family Man” and the upcoming “USS Indianapolis.” Cage is also producing through his production company, Saturn Films.
Harold Becker will executive produce alongside Mike Nilon and Richard Rionda Del Castro, whose Hannibal Classics serves as the film’s sales agent. Production is currently under way in Atlanta.
Hutchison was a series regular on the final season of “Spartacus” and co-starred on FX’s “Anger Management.” She also starred opposite Chris Hemsworth in Drew Goddard‘s horror movie “Cabin in the Woods,” which Joss Whedon produced for Lionsgate.
The New Zealand-born actress is represented by Innovative Artists, Primary Wave Entertainment and Johnson and Laird Management.