Shout! Studios has snagged North American rights to MDMA, Angie Wang’s semi-autobiographical crime drama. Variety broke the news.
Set in 1984, the pic tells the story of a student (Annie Q., “The Leftovers”) at a a prestigious San Francisco university who takes drastic measures when her financial aid is cut. She “uses her book and street smarts, along with school resources to synthesize the popular drug, Ecstasy znc, [and] becomes one of the West Coast’s largest distributors — until her recklessness instigates a sudden tragedy from which she may not recover,” the source summarizes.
Formerly titled “Cardinal X,” “MDMA'” made its world premiere at CAAMfest in March.
“Angie Wang has delivered an impressively gritty and timely tale about what happens when financial hardship inspires a young, clever mind to pursue a misguided idea,” said Shout’s Jordan Fields. “Annie Q. and Francesca Eastwood deliver particularly strong performances, and we’re confident it will connect with a broad audience.”
“MDMA” marks Wang’s directorial debut. She also wrote and produced the project. According to IMDb, she’s currently in pre-production on “Kilkick,” an action feature that she’s helming.
“I would say what I really tried to do was write from a very true and authentic emotional place. I would say the events that happened really did occur to me, they might just not have happened in that time frame,” Wang has said of “MDMA.” It’s kinda like 30 years of experience smooshed into a one-year narrative. I would say it’s probably 40 to 50 percent true.”
She added, “Some of the most bad-ass people I know are women. It infuriates me when we’re represented in the media and in stories as these cowering, crumbled, completely broken ways. Always relying on some man, or looking for some outside validation, someone else to validate who they are. I think with this character, I really wanted her to be strong and to be able to own who she was, and kinda kick the door down.”
“MDMA” will be released across multiple entertainment platforms, kicking off this fall with a day-and-date launch.
