Post-modern wartime thirller, Zeros And Ones, has added four-time Academy Award nominated actor and filmmaker Ethan Hawke (First Reformed, Boyhood) to headline the cast for director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, The Funeral, Kings Of New York).
Ferrara wrote the script which sees Hawke in the role of JJ, an American soldier stationed in a Rome under siege, locked down, and at war. The Vatican being blown into the night sky is only the beginning of our hero’s journey to uncover and defend against an unknown enemy but threatening the lives of the entire world.
Rounding out the roster are Cristina Chiriac (Siberia, Tommaso) and Phil Neilson (Siberia, Ben-Hur) with Christian Mercuri’s Capstone Group launching sales at AFM this week under its Blue Box International label and co-repping domestic with CAA Media Finance. Ferrara begins shooting in Italy later this month.
The film also reunites Ferrara with Diana Phillips (Bad Lieutenant, Siberia, Alfie) who is producing for Rimsky Productions, alongaise Maze Pictures’s Philipp Kreuzer (Guns Akimbo, The Happy Prince, Run & Jump). Award winning cinematographer Sean Price Williams (Good Time) will anchor the production below the line team. Danny Chan of Almost Never Films will serve as exec producer with Brent Guttman and Don Young.
“Zeros and Ones is a film of lockdown and war, danger and espionage, American soldiers, Chinese middlemen, Mid Eastern holy men, provocateurs, diplomats, rogue elements of the CIA and KGB. I cannot wait to roll the cameras next week in a way that is safe because this film was written during and with an understanding of the pandemic,” says Ferrara.
“Buyers are hungry for compelling and original storylines in the hands of master filmmakers and Zeros and Ones ticks all the right boxes,” Mercuri stated. “Coupled with worldclass production values and locations that includes the eerie backdrop of present-day Rome which has a feeling of Paris at the end of WW2, this film is a package not to be missed.”
Hawke’s prolific career spans over three decades with a filmography that also includes Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Gattaca, Training Day, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Boyhood, Born to Be Blue, Maudie, Richard Linklater’s trilogy Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight, and First Reformed, among countless others. He is also a noted filmmaker, author, and currently makes his television debut as star, co-writer, and executive producer of Showtime’s critically acclaimed limited series, The Good Lord Bird.
A long-time independent filmmaker and festival favorite, Ferrara has built a cult audience following with his stylish, neo-noir imagery, gritty urban settings, and provocative award winning films. His credits include Siberia, The Addiction, The Funeral, Blackout, Pasolini, Tommaso, Mary, Bad Lieutenant and Christopher Walkin-headlining crime-thriller King of New York.