(l) Nicholas Gerardin; (r) Brian Bowen Smith
Sci-fi action thriller Bluefly is setting up to roll cameras on Australia’s Gold Coast later this year. The film will be directed by Nimród Antal (Predators, “Stranger Things”) for a cast that now adds Russell Crowe (Nuremberg, upcoming Highlander) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Netflix’s The White Tiger, Prime Video’s The Bluff and Heads of State).
Land Of Bad duo David Frigerio (Beast) and William Eubank (Underwater) penned the script alongside Carlyle Eubank (Broke, Muzzle). Bluefly is set deep in the Congo, and follows a grieving UN translator who is pulled onto a black-ops mission to recover a downed aircraft that isn’t supposed to exist. As a Special Operations team pushes upriver through militia-held territory, the recovery becomes a descent — and the closer they get to the craft, the clearer it becomes that they were never meant to bring it home.
Michael Jefferson is producing for Polite Society with Frigerio for Broken Open Pictures, Deborah Glover for G2 Dispatch, Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier for Highland Film Group, and Vanessa Yao Guo. Lia Buman, Guy Davies, RuthAnne Frigerio, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Jason Kringstein, Katie Leary, Scott Levenson and James Norbury are exec producing.
Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights, launching sales at TIFF.
“We have a stellar cast led by Russell Crowe and Priyanka Chopra Jonas who will ignite the screen in this high-stakes, sci-fi thrill ride with layers of depth,” said Highland CEO Fraser. “Bluefly is heart-pounding entertainment with a complex story full of unexpected twists. With Nimród Antal at the helm and our wonderful cast, we cannot wait to introduce this fantastic project to our global buyers,” added company COO Delphine Perrier.
“Bluefly is an intense, character-driven thriller wrapped inside a bold science-fiction premise,” said Antal. “It’s the kind of film I live to make — grounded, propulsive, and full of dread — and I couldn’t ask for a better cast or team to bring it to the screen.”
Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP (GGSSC). Chopra Jonas is repped by United Talent Agency and A-Series; Antal is repped by Range Media Partners; William Eubank is repped by Anonymous Content and CAA; Carlyle Eubank is repped by Atlas Literary.