Ben Mendelsohn (Babyteeth, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) has joined Daisy Ridley (Star Wars trilogy) in Neil Burger’s (Limitless, The Illusionist) highly anticipated psychological thriller “The Marsh King’s Daughter.” The forthcoming adaptation of Karen Dionne’s best-selling novel of the same name was written by Elle Smith & Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Midnight Sky). The film is produced by Black Bear Pictures’ Teddy Schwarzman (The Imitation Game, I Care a Lot), Anonymous Content’s Keith Redmon (The Revenant, Midnight Sky) and Mark L. Smith. Executive Producers are Black Bear’s Michael Heimler, Syndicate Entertainment’s Cliff Roberts, and Charles Miller. Black Bear will fully finance the project, with principal photography due to commence in Canada this June.
Mendelsohn will star as Jacob Holbrook, the infamous “Marsh King,” who years ago kept his young daughter, Helena, and her mother captive in the wilderness for years. After a lifetime of trying to escape her past, a now grown Helena (Ridley) is forced to face her demons when Jacob unexpectedly returns.
Mendelsohn is a Golden Globe® nominated and Emmy Award® winning actor best known for his roles in Animal Kingdom, The Dark Knight Rises, The Place Beyond the Pines, Darkest Hour, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Captain Marvel, The King, and Netflix’s “Bloodline.” He starred in this year’s BAFTA nominated Babyteeth and will next be seen in Marvel Studios’ “Secret Invasion” for Disney+, as well as Joe Wright’s Cyrano in which he co-stars alongside Haley Bennett and in Damián Szifron’s Misanthrope opposite Shailene Woodley. Mendelsohn is represented by WME and United Management.
STXfilms, a division of Eros STX Global Corporation, recently acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the highly anticipated film from Black Bear and Anonymous Content, and will directly distribute the film in the UK, Ireland and India.
“The Marsh King’s Daughter “falls under the output and distribution agreement between Black Bear Pictures and STXinternational. In addition to The Marsh King’s Daughter, Black Bear’s current slate includes J Blakeson’s I Care A Lot which debuted at #1 on Netflix and received a Golden Globes win for ‘Best Actress’ for Rosamund Pike; Martin Campbell’s upcoming thriller Memory starring Liam Neeson, now in production; Annette Bening starrer Nyad which is currently in pre-production and will be directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin; and Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me which will be released by Sony Pictures Classics and received two Spirit Award nominations.
