Annette Bening is headed to the Straits of Florida on a harrowing journey. The “Captain Marvel” actor is set to play a real-life superhero in “Nyad,” a biopic of swimmer Diana Nyad that will mark Oscar-winning “Free Solo” directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s narrative debut. Deadline broke the news.
An adaptation of Nyad’s best-selling autobiography “Find a Way,” the pic tells the true story of how Nyad, then 64, “defied the odds to become the first person to complete the 110-mile journey from Cuba to Florida, through poisonous jellyfish and shark-infested waters.” She was “assisted by her best friend and crew of 35 dedicated supporters.”
Ann Biderman (“Ray Donovan”) penned the script with a rewrite from Julia Cox (“Do No Harm”).
“Nyad” is expected to go into production this summer.
A nail-biting portrait of Alex Honnold’s quest to become the first person to free solo climb El Capitan, “Free Solo” won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2019. Vasarhelyi and Chin also helmed “Meru,” an award-winning doc about climbers taking on Mount Meru. The collaborators have a doc about the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand in the works at Nat Geo.
“I think the best piece of advice I received that I would like to share with other female directors is that among the most nurturing things I can provide for my daughter is to help her one day find what she’s best at,” Vasarhelyi told Women and Hollywood. “The way to do that is to let her see me pursue my dreams and ultimately excel in what I’m best at.”
A four-time Oscar nominee, Bening scored nods for “The Kids Are All Right,” “Being Julia,” “American Beauty,” and “The Grifters.” “Hope Gap” and “The Report” are among her more recent credits.
