K.T Simpson
Academy Award-nominated Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez and Lily-Rose Depp are set to join previously announced stars Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Evangeline Lilly in the first theatrical film to tackle the international opioid crisis in writer/director Nicholas Jarecki‘s dramatic thriller from his original script, “Dreamland”.
Principal photography has now officially commenced in Montreal. Acclaimed German actress Veronica Ferres also stars.
Lisa Wilson handles foreign sales through her Solution Entertainment Group with Myles Nestel. William Morris Endeavor represents US rights with LGNA Legal.
Kinnear plays a university dean whose friendship with Oldman’s character is tested by conflicts of industry. Rodriguez plays a DEA supervisor who clashes with Hammer’s drug trafficker. Depp plays Hammer’s sister, a brilliant young woman in desperate hours. Dreamland is written and directed by Jarecki as his follow up to the critically acclaimed breakout hit, Arbitrage, the highest grossing independent film to be released “day and date” in cinema history, which earned a Golden Globe nomination for its star, Richard Gere.
“It’s a testament to the issue’s urgency that such a large group of gifted performers have come together for our film,” said Jarecki. “The opioid epidemic is a worldwide problem which needs our attention now.”
Kinnear was nominated for the Academy Award for his role in “As Good As It Gets” and has delighted audiences in over 50 film and television projects. Rodriguez is the star of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise and broke out in 2001 with multiple awards and nominations for “Girlfight” and appears now in “Widows”. Depp is a fast-rising star who toplines French auteur Louis Garrel’s latest picture “A Faithful Man” and is also the face of Chanel.
The film is being photographed in 35mm in the anamorphic format, perhaps the favorite of theatrical moviegoers worldwide, through the support of Kodak Corporation and its president Steve Bellamy.
Producers are Jarecki and Cassian Elwes (Dallas Buyers Club) who financed together through Jarecki’s Green Room Films and its continuing relationship with MUFG Union Bank. Co-producers are Jonathan Vanger (Canada) and Karl Richards (Belgium). Michael Suppes and Tony Hsieh executive produce along with Douglas Urbanski, Mohammed Al Turki, Lisa Wilson, William Rosenfeld, Sam Slater, and David Bernon. Co-executive producers are Kean Cronin, Robert Kapp, and Samuel Reich. Senior Canadian Executives are Matthew Schmidt and Dean Buchanan.
