THE OLD GUARD 2 Taps ‘Star Wars’ Vet Victoria Mahoney
History-making second unit director Victoria Mahoney will helm the sequel to Gina Prince-Bythewood’s own 2020 adaptation of Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández’s Image Comics publication, The Old Guard. As the trades reported and Netflix confirmed, Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngo and Chiwetel Ejiofor are all expected to reprise their roles.
Mahoney will direct from a script by returning writer Rucka who will also exec produce, following up on the story of Nile Freeman (Layne), a U.S. Marine who finds herself thrust into an epic war as part of a covert squad of mysterious, centuries-old immortal warriors led by Andromache (Theron). Theron will also produce next to Beth Kono and AJ Dix over at their Denver and Delilah banner, alongside Marc Evans for Marc Evans Productions, and Prince-Bythewood, and Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger.
Mahoney is credited as the first woman and first Black woman to direct a Star Wars film, serving as second unit director on J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX -The Rise of Skywalker.
Statement from Victoria Mahoney: “Genuinely blown backwards by the collective levels of talent, skill and savvy that went into carving The Old Guard. I must’ve watched it over a hundred times, and as such, cannot communicate the true measure of my excitement–being invited on The Old Guard journey alongside ferocious badasses. Ever eager to continue pushing the genre for action-loving audiences. Warmly tipping my hat to the world Gina, Charlize, Rucka, Fernández, Skydance, Netflix, Marc Evans Productions, Denver & Delilah Films and the entire Team daringly put forward.”
Statement from Charlize Theron, Beth Kono and AJ Dix of Denver & Delilah Films: “We are beyond thrilled that Vic is joining The Old Guard team. Her passion for these characters and her ambitious vision for the movie overwhelmed us all. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with her.“
Statement from Gina Prince-Bythewood: “I love The Old Guard and the story and characters I was honored to put into the world. It was exciting to disrupt the genre. I have decided not to direct the sequel, but will stay on as a producer. I leave our franchise in good hands as my girl Vic Mahoney takes on this next chapter.”
The Old Guard is one of Netflix’s most popular films to date and was seen by 78M households in its first four weeks.
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