Oscar winner Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables, Rachel Getting Married, The Dark Knight Rises) and Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, Miss Sloane, Molly’s Game) are attached to star in Mother’s Instinct, the English-language psychological thriller remake of Olivier Masset-Depasse’s 2018 film Duelles with Masset-Depasse directing the upcoming movie, according to Variety.
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Based on the novel Derrière la Haine by Barbara Abel, Chastain and Hathaway will play best friends and neighbors who both live an idyllic traditional lifestyle with manicured lawns, successful husbands, and sons of the same age. The story, set in the 1960s, will see the perfect harmony suddenly shattered by a tragic accident as guilt, suspicion, and paranoia combine to unravel their sisterly bond.
“It takes actors of Jessica and Anne’s caliber to communicate the intricacy of these two role,” Masset-Depasse said. “The relationship between a mother and child is the most powerful connection between two human beings. When this bond is severed, it calls into question conventional morality and even sanity. In the behind-closed-doors atmosphere of 1960’s America, Mothers’ Instinct becomes a terrifying, high-pressure powder keg.”
Sarah Conradt (50 States of Fright) is adapting the screenplay. Sales are reportedly set to launch at the American Film Market in November.
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Masset-Depasse’s Duelles won nine Magritte Awards from the Belgian Academy. The remake will be produced by Chastain along with Kelly Carmichael from Chastain’s Freckle Films as well as Mosaic’s Paul Nelson and Duelles producer Jacques-Henri Bronckart. Production company Anton will fully finance the feature as well as executive produce. Anton’s founder and CEO Sébastien Raybaud will oversee the project along with John Zois.
(Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)
