Elisabeth Moss will star alongside Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber in the psychological thriller “Shell” from director Max Minghella.
Black Bear International will introduce the project to international buyers at the Cannes Film Festival while also distributing the picture in the UK and Ireland. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent will handle domestic rights.
The film will be produced by Automatik’s Fred Berger and Brian Kavanugh Jones alongside Minghella for Blank Tape, Elisabeth Moss and Lindsey McManus for Love & Squalor Pictures and Alicia Van Couvering. It is penned by Jack Stanley who recently wrote the Allison Janney-led actioner “Lou.” Jamie Bell will executive produce. The deal was negotiated on behalf of Black Bear International by Jill Silfen.
Minghella said: “Shell” packs a wildly entertaining genre movie with iconic characters and universal themes that are bound to have people talking long after they leave the theater. I’m so thrilled to be bringing it to life with this extraordinary cast and the incredible support of Black Bear International, Love & Squalor and Automatik”.
“This is one of the most unique, entertaining and special scripts I’ve ever read and I am so honored to be a part of it as an actor and flattered that Max came to me with this character, who’s unlike anyone I’ve ever played before. Having worked with Max for years on “‘The Handmaid’s Tale,” I’m so thrilled to now be directed by him as I’m a huge fan of his as a filmmaker. We at Love & Squalor are also excited to be working alongside Automatik and Black Bear, two companies we very much admire.”
The picture, set in the near future, concerns a struggling actress (Moss) who accepts a free trial at a health and beauty company that promises to keep its clients eternally young. While it initially provides a boon to her career, all that glitters is not gold, as a number of former patients begin to disappear. Hudson will play the company’s CEO while Gerber (daughter of 90s-era supermodel Cindy Crawford) will play a high-profile social media star and former patient now gone missing.
Moss and Minghella, who also co-stars in the picture, worked together on Hulu’s Emmy-winning “The Handmaid’s Tale” Amid her work on “Mad Men,” “Top of the Lake” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Moss has received 14 Emmy nominations, winning twice as Best Actress in a Drama for the dystopian Hulu series.
Hudson won a slew of awards in 2001, including a Golden Globe, for her breakout supporting role in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.” Since then she has starred in the likes of “The Skeleton Key,” “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days,” “Bride Wars,” “Nine” and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” Minghella has starred in such films as “The Social Network,” “Teen Spirit” (which he also directed), “Spiral: From the Book of Saw,” and “Babylon.”
