Netflix has acquired domestic rights to Angelina Jolie’s “Maria,” a biopic directed by Pablo Larraín about renowned and influential opera singer Maria Callas, the streamer announced on Wednesday.
The film will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29.
The biopic, based on true accounts, will tell the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris. The cast also includes Academy Award nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino and Valeria Golino.
The script was written by Steven Knight (“Spencer,” “Peaky Blinders,” “Eastern Promises”).
The film’s producers are Juan de Dios Larraín, Lorenzo Mieli and Jonas Dornbach. The production companies are The Apartment (a Fremantle Company), Fabula, Komplizen and Fremantle.
“I’m excited to partner again with the Netflix team who care so passionately about movies,” Larraín said in a statement. “This film is my most personal work yet. It is a creative imagining and psychological portrait of Maria Callas who, after dedicating her life to performing for audiences around the world, decides finally to find her own voice, her own identity, and sing for herself. I’m deeply honored to tell this story and share it with audiences worldwide like Maria did with her life.”
Dan Lin, Netflix Chairman of Film added: “I’m excited that we are continuing to work with Pablo and Fabula – this is our seventh project with them, most recently with ‘El Conde’ and they are producing the upcoming ‘In Her Place.’ Pablo continues a remarkable streak of exploring iconic women through film, this time with the incredible Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas.”
Andrea Scrosati, Group COO & CEO Continental Europe, Fremantle added: “We are delighted that Pablo Larraín’s extraordinary piece of filmmaking, Maria, with its incredible performance by Angelina Jolie, has found its US home at Netflix. I know they will give it the best possible support and we are grateful to Glen and his FilmNation team for spearheading the sale.”
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