The past week or so has seen a number of notable actresses line up some choice projects, so here’s a little recap of what’s been going on around town….
Maggie Gyllenhaal will star in “The Honourable Woman,” an 8-part spy thriller miniseries set in the UK, the Middle East and America. Gyllenhaal will play the daughter of a zionist arm dealer who gets entangled in an international conspiracy linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The series is penned by Hugo Blick, who in addition to being a seasoned TV show writer in the UK (“Marion and Geoff,” “The Shadow Line”), played the young Jack Napier — a.k.a. the Joker — in Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman.” Filming will start mid-July for a 2014 broadcast, and it will air on The Sundance Channel. [Deadline]
Australian actress Emily Browning (Zack Snyder’s CGI-fest “Sucker Punch” and Julia Leigh’s controversial “Sleeping Beauty”) will star opposite Luke Grimes (“Taken 2”) in “The Shangri-La Suite” which will follow two young lovers who break out from a mental hospital in 1974 and embark on a road trip to LA with the goal of killing Elvis Presley. Produced by the team behind “Little Miss Sunshine,” this film will be the directorial debut of newcomer Eddie O’Keefe. [The Wrap]
Adept at juggling with indie flicks and Hollywood tentpoles, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gets back into the indie world by signing on to appear in two directorial debuts. Winstead will be directed by her husband Riley Stearns in “Faults,” the story of a cult member (Winstead) whose parents hire an expert to deprogram her. Things get complicated when the said expert begins to think that the parents might be the real problem. The film will start shooting next year. Winstead will then play “an environmental lawyer who is left to raise her 12-year-old son alone after her husband bolts.” The film will mark the directorial debut of omnipresent indie actor Chris Messina, and the untitled project will also star Derek Luke. [Deadline]
Having received strong reviews for their horror thriller “You’re Next,” director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett are teaming up again for “The Guest,” a psychological thriller about an ex-Marine on the verge of sanity who terrorizes a military family which has recently lost a son. 20-year old Maika Monroe has joined the cast as the female lead alongside Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”) who will play the neurotic ex-Marine. Production starts this summer with no release date yet. After a role in Ramin Bahrani’s “At Any Price” and a brief appearance in Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring,” Maika Monroe is steadily building up her acting resume. This year, she will be in Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day.” [The Wrap]
Margot Robbie (“The Wolf Of Wall Street“), Ruth Wilson (“Anna Karenina,” “The Lone Ranger“) and Alexandra Maria Lara (“Youth Without Youth,” “Control,” “Downfall“) are joining Michelle Williams, Mathias Schoenaerts and Kristin Scott Thomas in the WWII drama “Suite Française.” Set in Nazi-occupied France, the story is about a young French woman (Michelle Williams) who falls for a German officer (Mathias Schoenaerts). Directed by Saul Dibb (“The Duchess“) and based upon a novel written by Irene Nemirovsky, production is now underway and The Weinstein Company already have it on their slate. [Deadline]