For my money, the TV event of the year isNicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming Amazon seriesToo Old to Die Young, which starsMiles Teller,John Hawkesand the greatJena Malone, the latter of whom just booked a cool new project that I’ll get to in just a second. Since we share a birth year, I feel like I’ve grown up with Malone, who rarely gets the credit she deserves as an actress. She has been excellent ever since she was just a 14-year-old up-and-comer in 1998’sStepmom, and she continued to impress me at every turn, fromDonnie Darkoto the memorable duo ofSaved!andThe Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, all the way toInto the Wildand theHunger Gamessequels. She’s just always interesting on screen, and her taste in projects intrigues me, including her latest one. Collider has learned that Malone has signed on to joinJanelle Monáein an untitled racial thriller from Lionsgate and filmmakersGerard BushandChristopher Renz.
Joining Monáe and Malone will beJack Huston(Boardwalk Empire),Kiersey Clemons(Dope),Gabourey Sidibe(Precious),Robert Aramayo(Game of Thrones),Tongayi Chirisa(American Horror Story) andLily Cowles(Roswell, New Mexico) andEric Lange(Narcos).
Bush and Renz are directing from their own original screenplay, which follows Veronica (Monáe), a woman desperately trying to flee her captors – leading her on a perilous journey that forces her to question everything about her past, present and future.
Ray Mansfield(Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter) andSean McKittrick(Us) will produce via QC Entertainment, the company behind Best Picture nomineesGet OutandBlacKkKlansman, both of which won screenwriting Oscars. That’s worth noting, since this new film is billed as another provocative story about race relations in America.Zev Foreman(Dallas Buyers Club) will also produce alongsideLezlie Wills.
Bush and Renz directedJay-Z’s music video for “Kill Jay Z” as well asHarry Belafonte’s police brutality PSA “Against the Wall” starringMichael B. Jordan,Danny GloverandMichael K. Williams. They have also worked on campaigns with the MLK Memorial Foundation and Amnesty International.
My fellow Jena Malone fans can check outToo Old to Die Youngwhen it debuts on Amazon Prime on June 14. Even though Refn can go either way, I can’t wait for the director to melt my eyeballs, and I’m jealous of everyone who is going to see the first episode early at Cannes. Malone can currently be seen inEmilio Estevez’s homeless crisis dramaThe Public, and she has also wrapped the indie movieLoreleiwithPablo Schreiber. She’s represented by the Gersh Agency.
Elsewhere, UTA reps Sidibe, Aramayo, Clemons and Huston, who is also wrapped by Untitled Entertainment, while Clemons is additionally repped by MJ Management and Mach1 Management. Domain Talent reps Lange and Chirisa, while Industry Entertainment reps Chirisa and Cowles.
