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Star Wars sequel trilogy star Daisy Ridley is swapping a lightsaber for an axe for her first foray into the horror genre.

Ahead of its world premiere at Australia's Adelaide Film Festival this November, Variety has shared the first official stills from new zombie survival thriller We Bury The Dead.

Written and directed by Zak Hilditch, the movie stars Ridley as a woman named Ava who is searching for her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment that has decimated the population of Tasmania.

Ava joins a “body retrieval unit” in a desperate attempt to find out what happened to her husband, and ends up being tasked with burying the corpses. However, she soon comes to realize that some of the bodies aren't quite as dead as they should be.

Seemingly unfazed by the emerging supernatural threat, Ava takes up an axe and begins to dispose of the...

Back in October, we heard that Star Wars sequel trilogy star Daisy Ridley (who is set to return to the Star Wars universe for another film that is meant to launch “the next chapter” of the franchise) had signed on to star in We Bury the Dead, a survival thriller from Zak Hilditch, the director of the Stephen King adaptation 1922 (which featured an incredible performance from star Thomas Jane). That film has since made its way through production and will be having its world premiere soon, as well as a special preview event at Australia’s Adelaide Film Festival in November – so, in anticipation of those events, Variety was able to get their hands on a batch of first look images! You can check them out in this article.

Scripted by Hilditch, We Bury the Dead is said to be “a story about grief, loss, and the undead.” Ridley takes on the role of Ava,...

Daisy Ridley, star of the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, is a different kind of vigilante in Zak Hilditch’s upcoming horror-survival-thriller “We Bury the Dead.”

The film, which will have its world premiere shortly and hold a special preview event at Australia’s Adelaide Film Festival in November, unveiled a first look at Ridley in the role of a desperate woman who joins a body retrieval unit, hoping to find her husband alive after a disastrous military experiment destroys the population of Tasmania. As she sifts through the corpses, she discovers that many are not quite dead.

Ridley’s character looks haggard as she journeys to the south of Tasmania and is forced to make peace with her own unfinished business in the face of futility.

Daisy Ridley in ‘We Bury the Dead’

Production took place across Albany and the Great Southern region in Western Australia earlier this year. The...

Daisy Ridley has jumped on board a survival thriller, the next project from ‘1922’ filmmaker Zak Hilditch, ‘We Bury the Dead.’

The movie centres around grief, loss and the undead. Ridley plays Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life.

Also in news – Vanessa Kirby joins RonHoward’s survival thriller ‘Eden’

Written and directed by Hilditch, the film is produced by The Penguin Empire’s Kelvin Munro and Grant Sputore, who produced ‘I Am Mother,’ and Ross Dinerstein of Campfire Studios, who produces Netflix’s upcoming ‘Players.’

The film will be co-produced by Gramercy Park Media with the company’s Joshua Harris and Mark Fasano serving as producers, and Nathan Klingher and Ford Corbett executive producing.

Daisy Ridley is to star in 'We Bury the Dead'.The 31-year-old actress has been cast in the survival thriller from director Zak Hilditch.Daisy plays the role of Ava – a desperate woman whose husband is missing after a catastrophic military experiment – in the film.In the hope of finding him alive, Ava joins a 'body retrieval unit', but her search takes a frightening turn when the corpses she buries begin to show signs of life.'We Bury the Dead' is written and directed by Hilditch and is produced by The Penguin Empire's Kelvin Munro and Grant Sputore along with Ross Dinerstein of Campfire Studios. Filming is set to commence in Western Australia in February 2024.The filmmaker said: "Having Daisy play the role of Ava is an absolute dream come true. She embodies the perfect mix of vulnerability, grit and determination that Ava exudes throughout the film."Ridley played...

Star Wars sequel trilogy star Daisy Ridley is set to return to the Star Wars universe for another film that is meant to launch “the next chapter” of the franchise – but before she picks up Rey’s lightsaber again, Deadline reports that Ridley will be starring in We Bury the Dead, a survival thriller from Zak Hilditch, the director of the Stephen King adaptation 1922 (which featured an incredible performance from star Thomas Jane).

Scripted by Hilditch, We Bury the Dead is said to be “a story about grief, loss, and the undead.” Ridley will be taking on the role of Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life.

The project has been fully financed by Screen Australia,...

Zak Hilditch, director of the Stephen King movie 1922, is next directing a survival thriller titled We Bury the Dead, and Deadline reports that Daisy Ridley (Star Wars) will star.

“The film is a story about grief, loss and the undead. Ridley plays Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment.

“Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a body retrieval unit, but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life.”

“Filming will begin in February 2024 in western Australia,” Deadline notes.

We Bury the Dead is written and directed by Hilditch and produced by The Penguin Empire’s Kelvin Munro and Grant Sputore, and Ross Dinerstein of Campfire Studios.

The film will be co-produced by Gramercy Park Media with Joshua Harris and Mark Fasano serving as producers, and Nathan Klingher and Ford Corbett executive producing.

Exclusive: Daisy Ridley has found her next project – a survival thriller from Zak Hilditch, director of Stephen King adaptation 1922.

Ridley, who plays Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and is returning to franchise in the next film, will star in We Bury the Dead.

The film is a story about grief, loss and the undead. Ridley plays Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life.

Filming will begin in February 2024 in western Australia. It is fully financed by Screen Australia, Screenwest, Lotterywest, the Wa Regional Screen Fund and Gramercy Park Media. As such, the production complies with the terms of the Meaa / SAG-AFTRA agreement as part of Global Rule One.

We...

‘I Am Mother’.

Australia’s production incentives and Indigenous storytelling will be showcased at this year’s virtual IFP Week in New York, thanks to the Australian International Screen Forum and Screen Australia.

Running September 20-24, the event will feature two panels with an Aussie focus, while two local projects have also been selected for the No Borders International Co-Production Market.

In a session moderated by Jenny Cooney, writers Steven McGregor (Sweet Country) and Kodie Bedford (Mystery Road) will discuss the importance of Indigenous Australians telling their own stories, and taking those projects to a global audience.

Kodie Bedford.

Separately, director Grant Sputore and producer Kelvin Munro will break down how they leveraged South Australia’s production incentives and facilities to produce sci-fi I Am Mother, to which Netflix ultimately snapped up the worldwide rights. The discussion will be designed for international filmmakers interested in working with Australians to make...

Zak Hilditch, Alison James and infant.

Expat Australian filmmakers in Los Angeles and London are coping as best they can through the Covid-19 pandemic, including supporting each other.

Zak Hilditch was gearing up to shoot Airborne (formerly Celestial Blue), a prescient thriller about a mid-flight pandemic, in Bulgaria mid-year, produced by Liz Kearney and Ross Dinerstein, backed by Xyz Films.

“Like everything else, it’s all a huge grey area as to whether that’s even remotely feasible,” he tells If. Alexandra Daddario is attached to play a flight attendant who struggles to contain the infected passengers and against the odds land the aircraft safely.

Zak’s wife Alison James, who signed with Wme and Grandview after directing the short Judas Collar, is focused on writing and developing her own projects and collaborating with others in the Us and Australia.

I Am Mother’s Grant Sputore and his wife moved...

Grant Sputore.

Warner Bros. has hired I Am Mother’s Grant Sputore to direct Augmented, a sci-fi thiller which Margot Robbie is producing.

Michael Lloyd Green is rewriting an original script by Mark Townend set in a future where people are enhancing their lives with smart technology implants called Glaze.

The plot follows 40-year-old criminal lawyer Olivia Holloway, whose body is hijacked by an anonymous hacker who calls himself “Judge” while she defends the heir to a giant corporation who’s been accused of killing a young woman.

“Judge” threatens to stab her unless she tells the court her client is guilty, which she does, and then tries to use her to commit a series of proxy murders.

The studio acquired the rights to Townend’s spec script in 2017 and announced Robbie’s attachment to produce, according to Variety which broke the story.

Di Novi Pictures’ Denise Di Novi will...

In the first trailer for the sci-fi thriller, “I Am Mother,” Hilary Swank and a robot battle for a daughter’s love.

Rose Byrne voices a robot designed to help repopulate humanity that raises a young woman as its daughter. But the girl’s unique bond and her whole world is rocked when Swank shows up and reveals that this robot she calls “Mother” has always had different intentions.

Clara Ruggard stars opposite Swank and Byrne as the voice of “Mother” in the film that Netflix picked up out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Also Read: Why Hilary Swank Is So Optimistic About Filmmaking's Diverse Future (Video)

“Daughter, your whole life I’ve taught you to see the bigger picture,” Byrne’s robotic matriarch says in the film’s first trailer. “Everything I do is to protect you.”

The high-concept story that gives off memories of “The Terminator,...

Claire Rugaard in ‘I Am Mother’

Netflix has acquired North American rights to Grant Sputore’s debut feature I Am Mother after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

The global streaming giant had already bought the rights in several international territories to the sci-fi thriller scripted by Michael Lloyd Green, which stars Hilary Swank, Rose Byrne and Clara Rugaard.

Endeavour Content negotiated the deal for the producers, the Penguin Empire’s Kelvin Munro and Southern Light Films’ Timothy White.

Co-producer Anna Vincent tells If: “It was a competitive negotiation with a number of interested parties. Netflix was the strongest. We’re very happy.”

Mister Smith Entertainment pre-sold the rights to every major international territory except China based on the cast, script and early footage. Studiocanal, which committed to the project early on, is the Australian distributor.

Based on a story by Sputore and Green, the film follows a...

Mister Smith represents international sales.

Netflix has acquired North American rights to the Hilary Swank sci-fi thriller I Am Mother that premiered in Sundance after previously taking select international territories.

The film caused a stir among buyers at the Afm last November and stars newcomer Clara Rugaard alongside Swank and Rose Byrne. Endeavor Content represented the sale on behalf of the filmmakers and Mister Smith represents international sales.

Grant Sputore directed the story of a teenage girl, the first in a new generation of children raised by robots to repopulate earth after humans have become extinct.

The girl’s relationship...

Netflix has acquired North American rights to I Am Mother, the sci-fi thriller from first-time director Grant Sputore that bowed in the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival. The streamer already had some international rights to the pic, which stars Hilary Swank, Rose Byrne and Clara Rugaard.

Michael Lloyd Green penned the script about teenage girl (Rugaard) who is the first of a new generation of humans to be raised by Mother (Byrne), a robot designed to repopulate Earth after the extinction of humankind. The pair’s unique relationship is threatened when an injured stranger (Swank) arrives with news that calls into question everything Daughter has been told about the outside world and her Mother’s intentions.

Kelvin Munro and Timothy White produced. Paris Kasidokostas Latsis, Terry Dougas, Jean-Luc De Fanti, Bryce Menzies, Sputore, Philip Wade and John Wade are exec producers.

Endeavor Content repped the filmmakers in the deal.

The Sundance Film Festival may have wrapped up on Saturday, but the sales haven’t stopped. Netflix has finalized a deal for North American rights to “I Am Mother,” a sci-fi thriller that stars Hilary Swank.

The film strikes a cautionary note about the dangers of automation. It is set in a dystopic future, one in which humanity has largely been wiped out. In this setting, a teenage girl (Clara Rugaard) is raised to be the first of a new generation of humans. She is created by “Mother” (Rose Byrne), a robot designed to repopulate Earth, and brought up in a bunker. The bond between robot and “daughter” is strained with the arrival of a badly injured stranger (Swank), a woman who is deeply distrustful of “Mother” for reasons that soon become clear. “I Am Mother” marks the feature film directing debut of Grant Sputore. He cooked up the story with Michael Lloyd Green,...

Netflix has acquired the North American rights to Hilary Swank’s “I Am Mother” out of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Netflix announced Wednesday.

Netflix had previously locked several international territories. Grant Sputore directs in his feature film debut, and Michael Lloyd Green wrote the screenplay based on a story by Sputore and Green.

Swank costars alongside Clara Rugaard and Rose Byrne. Kelvin Munro produced for The Penguin Empire, alongside Timothy White for Southern Light Films.

See Video: Why Hilary Swank Is So Optimistic About Filmmaking's Diverse Future

“I Am Mother” is a sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl who is raised by Mother, a robot designed to repopulate the earth after humankind’s extinction. However, when an injured stranger arrives, their mother-daughter relationship is strained.

Executive producers are Terry Dougas and Jean-Luc De Fanti for Rhea Films, as well as Paris Kasidokostas Latsis, Bryce Menzies, Grant Sputore, Philip Wade and John Wade.

‘Little Monsters.’ (Photo credit: Ben King)

Neon and Hulu have jointly acquired Us rights to Abe Forsythe’s Little Monsters in the first major deal for the Australian films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The dark comedy starring Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England and Josh Gad sparked an overnight bidding war resulting in the deal worth mid-seven figures, Deadline.com reported.

The theatrical release will be accompanied by a massive cross promotion on Hulu’s streaming platform, which has an estimated 23 million subscribers.

The Screen Actors Guild award to the cast of Black Panther, which features Nyong’o, is said to have piqued buyers’ interest in the film which premiered in the Midnight section.

Produced by Snoot Entertainment’s Keith and Jess Calder with Made Up Stories’ Bruna Papandrea, Jodie Matterson and Steve Hutensky and funded by Screen Australia and Create Nsw, the film stars England as Dave,...

I Am Mother

Australia’s Grant Sputore makes a high profile directorial debut with I Am Mother, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi feature produced by Kelvin Munro of Penguin Empire and Timothy White of Southern Light Alliance. A recent In Progress screening took place at the Adelaide Film Festival. Cinematographer Steve Annis serves as DoP, and the film’s cast features Hilary Swank, Clara Rugaard and the voice of Rose Byrne.

Gist: Written by Michael Lloyd Green, a teenage girl (Rugaard) has grown up underground, raised by a robot named Mother (Byrne), who was designed to help repopulate the Earth following an extinction level event.…...

It’s hard to believe it’s almost time for a new year of the Sundance Film Festival, but we’re now less than two months away, and this writer is extremely excited to head to Park City once again, especially after digging into Sundance’s initial lineup announcement today. Not only does their Midnight slate look insanely great, but there are a ton of films running in Sundance’s other programming tracks that I am beyond excited to see in January.

Some of the highlights from today’s lineup announcement include Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile which chronicles the life of Ted Bundy (played by Zac Efron) through the experiences of his girlfriend; Paradise Hills, which stars Emma Roberts, Milla Jovovich, and Awkwafina; Relive from producer Jason Blum; Dan Gilroy’s Buzzsaw; and the Alien-themed documentary Memory. I’ve gone ahead and broken down all the titles...

Mia Wasikowska in ‘Judy and Punch’ (Photo: Ben King)

A record six Australian feature films will screen at the Sundance Film Festival, with Animals, Judy and Punch, Little Monsters, Top End Wedding and I Am Mother having their world premieres in the Utah-based festival, which runs from January 24 – February 3.

In addition, Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale will have its North American premiere after winning the special jury prize and the Marcello Mastroianni award for best new young performer for Baykali Ganambar at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

That surpasses the previous record of five in 1997. Sundance has been a great launching pad for Australian productions including David Michod’s Animal Kingdom in 2010 (World Cinema Jury Prize), Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek in 2005, Scott Hicks’ Shine in 1996, Kitty Green’s Casting JonBenet (2017) and Nash Edgerton’s Mr Inbetween (2018).

“The six films selected by Sundance display the array of stories Australians...

‘1%’

First-time feature director Stephen McCallum’s 1% is a classic case of a film whose commercial impact cannot be judged by its first weekend in Australian cinemas.

Released by Icon, the hard-hitting biker gang drama rang up $56,000 on 58 screens and $82,000 including festival screenings and previews.

While that’s a modest debut, the producer Michael Pontin, who heads See Pictures’ low budget label Ticket to Ride, hails the film as a huge commercial success thanks to pre-sales to the Us and more than a dozen other major markets.

And the film starring Matt Nable, Ryan Corr, Josh McConville, Aaron Pedersen, Abbey Lee and Simone Kessell is already proving to be a significant career catalyst for the director.

McCallum tells If he has had offers to direct two Us films, subject to financing, and he next hopes to make Paradise, a love story between an Afghan refugee and an Australian guard at a detention camp.

Exclusive: In competitive bidding, Black Bear Pictures has won the rights to Remission, a science fiction pitch that Michael Lloyd Green is scripting as his next project.

Green most recently sold the sci-fi pitch The Revisionist to eOne with Hutch Parker producing. His previous script, I Am Mother, made the 2016 Black List, was greenlighted by Rhea Films and is in post-production with Hilary Swank starring opposite Clara Rugaard and Rose Byrne voicing the Weta Workshop-designed robot, with Grant Sputore directing and Timothy White and Kelvin Munro producing.

Black Bear, the studio behind The Imitation Game and Mudbound, premiered the Julia Roberts-Lucas Hedges drama Ben Is Back at Toronto last month. The Peter Hedges-directed drama will be released December 7 in awards season by Lionsgate/Roadside/Ld Entertainment. Black Bear’s in post on Light of My Life, which stars Anna Pnoiwsky, Elisabeth Moss and Casey Affleck,...

Rose Byrne will voice the titular robot Mother in the sci-fi thriller “I Am Mother.”

Hilary Swank and Clara Rugaard will also star in the film. Rugaard portrays the first of a new generation of humans raised by “Mother” — a kindly robot designed to repopulate the earth following the extinction of mankind. But their unique bond is threatened when a blood-drenched woman (Swank) inexplicably arrives, calling into question everything she’s been told about the outside world.

First-time feature filmmaker Grant Sputore is directing based on an original concept. Michael Lloyd Green penned the script, which was on the 2016 Black List.

Byrne said Sputore’s movie is a “unique, eerie, unnerving and visionary science fiction piece. He is such an exciting talent to come out of Australia and I am so flattered to be on board with such an incredible artist.”

The film began shooting last year at South Australia’s Adelaide Studios.

Exclusive: Rose Byrne will lend her voice to the ‘Mother’ robot in the sci-fi thriller, I Am Mother, starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank and up-and-comer Clara Rugaard. First-time feature helmer Grant Sputore is directing the pic which is based on an original concept by him and screenwriter Michael Lloyd Green.

Timothy White of Southern Light Films is producing with the project with The Penguin Empire’s Kelvin Munro. Anna Vincent and Michael Lloyd Green co-produce.

The story follows a lonely teenage girl, ‘Daughter’ (Rugaard), who is the first of a new generation of humans raised by ‘Mother’ (Byrne) – a kindly robot designed to repopulate the earth following the extinction of mankind. But their unique bond is threatened when a blood-drenched woman (Swank) inexplicably arrives, calling into question everything Daughter has been told about the outside world – and her Mother’s intentions.

Byrne has appeared in various notable projects including the...

Hilary Swank in ‘I Am Mother.’

Executives at Studiocanal are so confident that Grant Sputore’s I Am Mother will get a meaningful Us release they plan to launch the sci-fi thriller in Australia after the Us.

Adelaide Film Festival audiences will see a work-in-progress of Sputore’s debut feature, which stars Hilary Swank, newcomer Clara Rugaard, a former Disney Channel star in Denmark, and Rose Byrne, on October 12.

Rugaard plays a lonely teenager who is raised by ‘Mother,’ a kindly robot designed to repopulate the Earth following the extinction of mankind. That bond is threatened when a blood-drenched woman played by Swank turns up, calling into question everything the girl had been told about the outside world.

Byrne will voice the robot, which was designed by Kiwi special effects house Weta Workshop. Sputore described the collaboration with the Weta team led by founder Richard Taylor as a “dream.”

After...

Like A Photon’s Nadine Bates and Kristen Souvlis, pictured with their muppet Violetta, have received funding from Screen Australia for two animated features.

Two animated feature films from Queensland-based production company Like A Photon and Stan/Jungle Entertainment’s No Activity Christmas special are among the recent 12 projects to receive production investment from Screen Australia.

The agency announced today it will inject over $9 million in production funding across five features, five TV dramas and two digital series.

Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates’ Like A Photon will produce animated feature Combat Wombat, about a wombat turned unintentional superhero, as well as The Wishmas Tree, which follows a young possum’s misguided wish for a white Wishmas. Both projects will be directed by Ricard Cusso Judson, with Matt Everitt to act as consulting animation director (The Lego Batman Movie) on Combat Wombat.

The creative team behind web series High Life – producer Adam Dolman,...

Hilary Swank has signed on to star in I Am Mother, the Australian sci-fi thriller from director Grant Sputore, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The film is Sputore's feature film debut.

Swank joins an ensemble cast that includes Clara Rugaard, Luke Hawker and Tahlia Sturzaker. The indie for Southern Lights Films and Penguin Empire is based on a script by Michael Lloyd Green. Kelvin Munro and Timothy White are producing.

Swank is best known for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby, both of which netted her Oscars. Her recent work includes 55 Steps and Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky.

I Am Mother...

Grant Sputore.

Mother, a sci-fi thriller from Wa director Grant Sputore and writer Michael Lloyd Green, whose script landed on the 2016 Black List, is set to begin shooting at Adelaide Studios.

The film has received production funding from Screen Australia and the Safc in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest, Rising Sun Pictures and Kojo..

Sputore made short film Legacy in 2008 and was selected by the Adg to be a director.s attachment with Kriv Stenders on Kill Me Three Times in 2014. Mother will be his feature debut..

The Penguin Empire.s Kelvin Munro and Southern Light Films. Timothy White (Son of a Gun, Sleeping Beauty) are producing, with Anna Vincent (Embrace) co-producing..

Executive producers are Jean-Luc de Fanti (The Private Lives of Pippa Lee), Terry Dougas (Jane Got A Gun), and Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis, whose film Good Time will screen in competition at Cannes this year.

Mother tells the story of...