Fresh off her Oscar win for Anora, Mikey Madison is looking to build out her upcoming slate as she is set to star in Reptilia, the latest feature from filmmaker Alejandro Landes Echavarría. The film will co-star Kirsten Dunst and is based on a script by Landes Echavarría and Duke Merriman. Pastel, Imperative Entertainment and AF Films are set to produce alongside Landes Echavarría under his A Stela Cine banner. Black Bear is providing financing.
UTA Independent Film Group and 30West will co-handle U.S. distribution rights. The film will be introduced to international buyers at the Cannes Market by Charades. Principal photography will commence in the fall.
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The film centers on a dental hygienist seduced by a mysterious mermaid into the dark and wet underworld of Florida’s exotic animal trade.
Landes Echavarría previously directed Monos, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award before going on to win t Best Film at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. The film was subsequently selected as the official Colombian entry for the Best International Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards. His narrative debut, Porfirio, premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2011, while his first feature, the documentary Cocalero, debuted at Sundance in 2007. Landes Echavarría is an alum of the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs and the Cannes Cinéfondation.
Anora took home a total of five Oscars and won the Palme d’Or. In addition to the Oscar, Madison won the BAFTA and the Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe, SAG Award and Critics Choice Award. Her other credits include Scream 5 alongside the cast of the original 1996 cult classic. She also had a memorable role in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-nominated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where she shared the screen with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie. Beyond her film endeavors, Madison continues to make waves on TV, notably in her role in FX’s Better Things.
A Cannes Best Actress winner for Melancholia, Dunst is known for her roles in The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, Spider-Man and The Power of the Dog, which earned her Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice nominations. Dunst will next appear in Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman opposite Channing Tatum and in Ruben Östlund’s upcoming A24 feature The Entertainment System Is Down. In addition to Dunst’s film career, she also starred in the second installment of the FX crime comedy-drama Fargo, for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and received both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Other TV credits include Showtime’s dark comedy On Becoming a God In Central Florida, produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney.
Landes Echavarría is represented by UTA and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark. Dunst is represented by UTA, Entertainment 360 and Hansen Jacobson. Madison is represented by UTA and Authentic Talent & Literary Management.