Are y’all ready for a very timely and relevant film starring two major celebrities? Always!
According to Deadline, Netflix has won a major bidding war to acquire the world rights for Leave The World Behind, a feature based on the upcoming novel by Rumaan Alam. The film, directed by Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), will star Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts.
Though the two Oscar winners have clearly kept in touch (Roberts is known to honor her peer/friend at award ceremonies), this is an epic on-screen reunion of sorts because Washington and Roberts first co-starred in The Pelican Brief in 1993. Let’s debrief (heh)—this means it’s been 27 years since the two co-starred in a film together!
Deadline provides the synopsis of the pricey film:
The drama has a timely premise, given the disorienting nature of events in the world so far this year: Amanda and Clay’s aspirational vacation with their teenage children is interrupted by the arrival of a middle aged couple who own the holiday home and who have fled an unprecedented blackout in the city. When the internet, television and radio stop working, as does the landline, they have no way of finding out what is happening. As strange sonic booms shatter the peace of the countryside, and animals start to migrate in strange ways, the physical and mental health of the families begins to disintegrate. The renters are upscale and White; the owners are upscale and Black. The issues of race and clash become distractions to the more alarming things are happening all around them.
Washington will be portraying the homeowner and Roberts will portray the mother of the family that rents his house. OK, this is giving me a dystopian Little Fires Everywhere feel and I’m intrigued! The novel is expected to be published this fall and I can’t help but point out how amazing it is to already land a film adaptation before your book even publishes.
Washington will be serving as producer and Roberts will also be producing under her Red Om Films banner.
That’s all the details we have for now, but we’ll keep an eye out for a trailer!