Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour set for ‘Perfect Candidate’
Snyder exits Justice League after daughter’s death
LOS ANGELES, May 23, (Agencies): Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al-Mansour, who with “Wadjda” became the first female filmmaker in of her country, is set to return to Saudi Arabia to shoot “The Perfect Candidate,” a drama with comedic elements about a young female physician who maneuvers through her conservative, male-dominated society to run in the municipal council elections.
Shooting on the Arabic-language pic is expected to start in Saudi Arabia in the second half of 2018, said producers Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner, whose Berlin-based Razor Films produced “Wadjda.”
They described “The Perfect Candidate” as a somewhat ironic look at the new developments in Saudi Arabia caused by women being able to be elected on a local political level.
The film’s Saudi protagonist is frustrated after being turned back at the airport because her travel permission from her male guardian wasn’t up to date, so she embarks on an absurd campaign, balancing strict social norms, gender segregation and the influence of her eccentric family, according to the film’s synopsis written by the director.
“It’s quite funny,” said Paul. “It has Haifaa’s sense of humor, this time a bit more,” he added.
Plans are for the film, with a local cast, to shoot in the second half of 2018 “when it’s not too hot down there, because temperature is an issue,” the producers said.
They are in talks for a sales agent to come on board the project, which is sparking plenty of interest, they said.
“Wadjda,” about a rebellious Saudi girl who wants to ride a bicycle in her country, where that is not allowed, was released by Sony Pictures Classics in the US after launching from the Venice Film Festival in 2012, and was Saudi Arabia’s first Oscar foreignlanguage film entry.
Since then, Al-Mansour has shot “A Storm in the Stars,” based on the life of “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley, starring Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth. That English-language film is now in post and is tipped to bow in a Venice berth in September.
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The recent death of director Zack Snyder’s daughter has driven the prominent filmmaker to step away from finishing the ensemble superhero movie “Justice League.”
A source close to production who was not authorized to speak publicly said Monday that director Joss Whedon would take over completing the film, which should still hit its Nov. 17 release.
Snyder and his wife and producing partner Deborah Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter they will be using the time away to focus on their family and seven children.
The Reporter story stated Snyder’s 20-year-old daughter, Autumn, killed herself in March. Coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said Autumn Snyder’s March 12 death is being investigated as a possible suicide due to an overdose of prescription medications. The official cause of death has been deferred pending toxicology results.
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The Arnold Schwarzenegger-produced “Wonders of the Sea 3D” is set for a theatrical release in China. Directed by Jean-Michel Cousteau and narrated by Schwarzenegger, the film was picked up by China’s Emperor Films.
The deal was sealed between Emperor and producer Bruber Media Partners on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. Deal terms were not disclosed. All other rights are represented by Conquistador Entertainment.
Emperor is planning a release of the 3D film on several thousand screens. That will be one of the first times that a documentary gets such a wide outing in China.
Bruber was represented by chairman and CEO Beryl Huang. Emperor was represented by its president and CEO Yang Gao. Also present at the signing were Schwarzenegger, Sally Zhao and Cousteau, the son of famous French explorer Jean-Jacques Cousteau.
“We are thrilled that mainland China is taking such a significant step towards promoting a better environment and an aggressively green approach by releasing this movie,” said Huang.