From Richmond to the Himalayas.
Juno Temple, perhaps best known for her starring role in Apple’s hit soccer series Ted Lasso, has joined Ewan McGregor, Sam Heughan and Mark Strong in Doug Liman’s upcoming frosty adventure, Everest.
The film — in which McGregor will play famed mountaineer George Mallory — will see Temple play Mallory’s beloved wife, Ruth, who is left behind to handle their life during his life-threatening attempts to scale Everest.
Alongside the casting, as the film moves closer to the start of production, HanWay Films has closed multiple key deals following the launch at the Cannes virtual market. With plans to release theatrically in all territories, deals have been secured with Sky (U.K.), SND (France), Wild Bunch (Germany, Switzerland), Notorious (Italy, Spain), Belga (Benelux), Nordisk (Scandinavia), NOS (Portugal), Madman (Australia, NZ), IDC (Latin America), Elevation (Canada), Paradise (CIS/Baltics), Monolith (Poland), ProRom (Central and Eastern Europe), FrontRow (Middle East), Forum (Israel), Gravel Road (South Africa), Medialink (Hong Kong), PVR (Indian subcontinent), Falcon (Indonesia), Shaw (Singapore), Joy n Cinema (South Korea), Cai Chang (Taiwan) and Echo Lake (Airlines).
From Oscar nominated screenwriter Sheldon Turner and inspired by novel Paths of Glory by worldwide bestselling English author Jeffrey Archer, Everest is produced by Jennifer Klein together with Liman. It will start shooting in the U.K. and Italy January 2022.
Many have sacrificed their sanity and often their lives in the attempt to reach its fabled summit. Mallory was picked by the arrogant Arthur Hinks (Strong) of the Royal Geographic Society to scale the impossible. Following WWI, the fading British empire is desperate for a restorative victory, but for Mallory and his rival, the eccentric Aussie George Finch (Heughan), the challenge of Everest has nothing to do with patriotism, instead it is a singular test of self.
Climbing without oxygen, to heights not even planes can reach, Mallory‘s successive attempts to make the summit sees a challenge become an all-consuming obsession. It leads him to abandon his beloved wife and three children for months on end, give up his job and push his body to the limits of human endurance. Everest becomes a very real monster for Mallory, his 45-degree climb to the peak is an inhuman mix of vertigo and nerve-shredding tension, requiring all of his fearlessness and audacity. It takes everything from him for reasons he can barely articulate: because it’s grander than him, it’s the last empty part of the map and, as he simply puts it — “because it’s there.”
“At a critical moment for cinema, Everest has galvanized and inspired leading independent distributors to step up to support a studio-scale project destined for theaters worldwide: an endorsement of the indie model,” said Peter Watson, vice chairman of HanWay Films.
Temple — currently in production on Paramount+’s limited event series The Offer, about the making of The Godfather, alongside Miles Teller — is represented by UTA, B-Side in the UK and Lichter Grossman Nichols.
Source: HollyWood
