Mélanie Laurent is set to make her English language directorial debut, Variety reports. The French actress and director will helm “Galveston,” starring Elle Fanning and Ben Foster.
Based on “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto’s novel of the same name, the film is described as a “visceral crime thriller set in a boiling cauldron of violence and desperation, where two hard-luck outsiders are on the run.” The story centers on “a debt-collector who flees to Galveston, Texas to lie low after surviving an assassination attempt from his loan-sharking boss.”
“It is rare to read something that delivers so convincingly as a thriller but also as a moving, honest exploration of damaged souls,” said Laurent of the source material.
Laurent’s last feature, “Breathe” (“Respire”), played at the Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week Section and was considered by many to be one of the best foreign language films of 2015. Her documentary, “Demain,” was a box office hit and earned a César Award (France’s Oscar equivalent) nomination for Best Documentary Film.
As an actress, she’s appeared in numerous French films, and stateside in “Inglourious Basterds,” “Now You See Me,” “Enemy,” and “Beginners.”
“‘Breathe’ showcased both [Laurent’s] ability to create insightful, sympathetic characters experiencing heart-wrenching emotional change, and her natural control of atmosphere and plot,” said producer Low Spark Films’ Tyler Davidson. “[Laurent] will direct subtle and moving performances, and transport us the audience through the breath- taking Texan landscape and the shocking, sudden violence of its criminal world. She couldn’t have had a better filmmaking experience as an actress working with the likes of Villeneuve, Tarantino, and Audiard,” Davidson added.
Filming for “Galveston” will begin January 10, 2017.
