“Deadpool 2” and “Joker” star Zazie Beetz and “The Crown” royalty Elizabeth Debicki are teaming up for “This Blue Is Mine,” the English-language debut of Brazilian director Iuli Gerbase.
International sales on the the film, described as an “original, psychosexual sci-fi drama,” have been launched by HanWay Films ahead of Cannes, with UTA Independent Film Group repping the U.S. sale. Marissa McMahon and Ashley Schlaifer of Kamala Films (“A Private War”) are producing. Beetz will serve as an executive producer.
“This Blue Is Mine” — scheduled to shoot in August and September in Colombia — is set amidst a family holiday at a tropical resort, where Arthur, a guilt-free bon viveur, surprises everyone by bringing his new beautiful and enigmatic girlfriend, Ivy (Debicki). Ivy’s arrival and her odd behavior throws the already delicate dynamics off balance with Arthur and his daughters. Connie (Beetz) is still recovering from the trauma of a recent miscarriage and her older half-sister Laura can be a bit suffocating in her efforts to support her. One evening, after Connie gets very drunk, Ivy quietly reveals to her that she’s actually an alien visiting Earth. While Laura is quick to write Ivy off as an aspiring trophy wife, Ivy’s strangeness makes Connie, and with her the audience, question if she could actually be an alien. Before she knows it, Connie is being seduced by Ivy and invited to follow her back to her planet, an invitation that sound more seductive as the family drama heightens. But is Ivy really an alien? Or is Connie having a mental breakdown? Connie may have to take a leap of faith.
Gerbase made a name for herself with her debut feature “The Pink Cloud,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021 and would later win various international festival awards, including the Bloody Window Award at the Sitges Film Festival and the Grand Prix award at the Sofia International Film Festival.
“Iuli is a really exciting fresh talent and she has crafted an original story that is both otherworldly yet feels extremely familiar, combining a tropical resort setting with a potential alien and a family trying to connect,” HanWay CEO Gabrielle Stewart said. “Elizabeth Debicki is an actor born to play an ethereal beautiful creature from another planet. She and Zazie will be irresistible in these roles.”
The project is being produced and financed by McMahon and Schlaifer of the New York- and L.A.-based Kamala Films, which is currently in production on an adaptation of Denis Johnson’s Pulitzer finalist novella “Train Dreams,” directed by Cline Bentley (“Jockey”) with Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones. Atomic Honey — run by Chelsea Ellis Bloch and Marisol Roncali — is overseeing casting on “This Blue is Mine.”
Debicki is represented by CAA. Beetz is represented by WME, Entertainment 360 and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Gerbase is represented by UTA, Entertainment 360 and Granderson Des Rochers.
Source Agencies
