Cate Blanchett, currently enjoying some of the best reviews of her career thanks to Woody Allen‘s “Blue Jasmine,” has signed on to star in David Mamet‘s thriller “Blackbird,” which the Solution Entertainment Group will shop to foreign buyers in Toronto, the company’s Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel announced Thursday.
Blanchett will play a woman who travels to Los Angeles for the funeral of her grandfather, a Hollywood visual effects artist who moonlighted for U.S. special ops agencies. After his death, her grandfather’s well-kept secrets become a threat.
Saïd Ben Saïd’s Paris-based company, SBS Productions, will finance and produce the movie, which is scheduled to start production in January in Sydney. The Solution will present the project to foreign buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival with ICM Partners and SBS handling U.S. rights.
“‘Blackbird’ a quintessential suspense thriller in the vein of Mamet’s other great work, ‘The Spanish Prisoner.’ The Solution is just as passionate and committed to the project as I am and will choose the right international partners to bring this film to a global audience,” said Ben Saïd.
Blanchett, who won an Oscar for her performance in “The Aviator,” next stars in George Clooney‘s “The Monuments Men” and Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” both of which hit theaters in December.
