“The Unforgivable” helmer Nora Fingscheidt is following up her record-breaking Netflix hit by teaming with another A-list talent. Sandra Bullock starred in the German filmmaker’s English-debut, and Saoirse Ronan has been tapped as the lead in her next feature, “The Outrun,” an adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir about alcoholism and her relationship to nature. Variety confirmed the news.
Penned by Fingscheidt and Liptrot, the film will see Ronan playing “recently-out-of-rehab Rona who heads for home in Scotland’s wild Orkney Islands after an absence of over a decade,” per the source. She reconnects with the landscape where she grew up and begins “to piece together her childhood,” and reflect on how her memories connect to recent events that inspired her on the path towards recovery.
“It was Amy’s voice that first drew me to ‘The Outrun,’” said Ronan. “Her unusual way of seeing things in a way that perhaps you only can when you’ve been to the darkest place you can go within yourself. I have been waiting to play a part like this – the messiness, hopefulness, dreaminess, authenticity, and humor we want to achieve – I’ve been scared of it, but with Nora I feel ready.”
Fingscheidt added, “Amy’s intriguing and poetic story shows how one can find their lives broken into pieces, and that recovery can happen in the most unexpected of ways and places. There are wonderful gifts already in place to make this a powerful and immersive film. One is the setting, the vast and cinematic landscapes of the Orkney islands; the other is our main actress, Saoirse Ronan, who brings magic to the screen with her unique mix of charisma and emotional depth!”
Ronan is among the pic’s exec producers. Protagonist Pictures is executive producing and representing worldwide sales.
A four-time Oscar nominee, Ronan has received nods for “Little Women,” “Lady Bird,” “Brooklyn,” and “Atonement.”
Fingscheidt made her feature debut with “System Crasher,” Germany’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2020 Oscars. The story of a nine-year-old girl in the child welfare system won eight German Film Awards. More recently, she directed 2021’s “The Unforgivable,” a drama about a woman who is released from prison two decades after committing a violent crime. Upon its release, the pic became one of Netflix’s top 10 most popular films of all time. It was Bullock’s second spot on the list following another woman-directed smash success on the streamer, Susanne Bier’s “Bird Box.”
