A young female-led cast was previously set for Foxtail Entertainment and Phantom Four’s upcoming film “Assassination Nation”, with Odessa Young (recent AACTA winner for Best Actress, “The Daughter”), Hari Nef (Amazon’s “Transparent”), R&B musician/rapper Abra (photo below), and Suki Waterhouse (“The Bad Batch,” “Billionaire Boys Club) all signing on to star alongside one another in the edgy thriller.
“Assassination Nation” follows four teenage girls in a small suburb who become the focus of unwanted, world-wide media attention after their personal information is leaked by an anonymous hacker.
Announced this morning, Anika Noni Rose has joined the film’s cast to play mother to the characters played by Abra and Suki Waterhouse, who is described as “an attractive woman with terrible taste in men, who has an unfortunate reputation in the conservative town of Salem. When the mysterious hacker outs her for her various affairs with the town’s married men, she faces scorn, public ridicule and downright abuse from the outraged citizenry.” (Via Variety)
Sam Levinson (“Another Happy Day” / HBO’s much anticipated “Wizard of Lies”) wrote the original screenplay and will direct “Assassination Nation.”
Producing the film are Foxtail Entertainment co-founders and partners Matthew Malek (Martin Scorsese’s “Silence”) and Anita Gou (Marti Noxon’s official Sundance 2017 selection “To the Bone”), and Phantom Four partners David Goyer (“Batman vs Superman”) and Kevin Turen (“99 Homes”, “Arbitrage”).
“Odessa, Hari, ABRA and Suki are great, rising talents who all come from different backgrounds and collectively make up a cast that is young, diverse and powerful – all things we want this film to reflect,” said Gou and Malek. “What attracted both of us to the project was it’s bold depiction of teenagers, not as vapid or distracted but rather engaged and determined to navigate the complexities of this new world. It tackles issues of shaming, mob mentality, vigilantism, and righteousness.”
David Goyer said, “Sam’s script is a brilliant and wild piece of social satire. Essentially, ‘The Crucible’ for the Snapchat generation. We are thrilled to help him realize it as a film.”
Principal photography is underway in Louisiana.
Rose will next be seen on the big screen in Stella Meghie’s film adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s novel, “Everything, Everything,” alongside Amandla Stenberg. It will be released on May 19, 2017.