Two-time Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali is set to star in a new sci-fi film, Sovereign. Plot details are being kept under wraps according to the latest press announcement sigaling the film from Entertainment One (eOne) and 21 Laps Entertainment.
Three-time BAFTA-winning director Marc Munden (Amazon series Electric Dreams, upcoming The Secret Garden) is tapped to direct the film from a screenplay by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods who previous penned actor and director John Krasinski’s 2018 Critic’s Choice award-winning smash hit horror and now sequel-bound A Quiet Place; An original draft of the script was written by duo Greg Weidman and Geoff Tock (Zoo, Limitless), with revisions by Jack Thorne (Wonder, upcoming The Secret Garden).
21 Laps’ own Shawn Levy will produce along with Dan Levine and Dan Cohen, adding to previous credits that include Denis Villeneuve’s Eric Heisserer-penned and BAFTA-nominated Arrival, and the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, which premieres its third season July 4.
eOne will also finance the film.
“We have long loved this project and have been patiently waiting until we found the right leading actor, which we no doubt have found in the incredibly talented Mahershala Ali,” stated Nick Meyer, eOne’s President of Film. “The cast is clearly shaping up well and is backed by a creative team with a proven track record and the ability to tell a story that will resonate with audiences around the world.”
“Much like our film ARRIVAL, this project is for us a dream pairing of an inspired screenplay with a truly visionary director. Marc Munden has been an exceptional collaborator in shaping this singular story into one that jumps off the page and with the phenomenally talented Mahershala Ali at the heart of this film, we feel we now have the dream creative partners to tell a story that audiences won’t forget,” stated Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps Entertainment.
Ali won the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Dr. Don Shirley in the Oscar winning film, Green Book for which he also received the BAFTA, SAG and Golden Globe award. In 2017, Ali won the Academy Award and SAG Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting role for his performance in Moonlight and was also nominated that year for a BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for the film. Ali’s expansive list of credits includes House Of Cards, the latest season of HBO’s crime procedural, True Detective, and the Academy Award-winning film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse which is also in tow with a sequel from Sony.
Ali is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Munden is repped by WME and Independent Talent Group. Beck and Woods are repped by ICM Partners and Anonymous Content. Weidman and Tock are repped by WME and Grandview. Thorne is repped by UTA and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.