Actress Nicole Kidman has the luxury of a strategist’s approach to her film career, laying out several projects at any one time to consider the most appealing move. Going from the gonzo melodrama of “Stoker” to the regal beauty coming soon in “Grace of Monaco,” she’s certainly after a great deal of variety lately, but seeing the recent slate of white-knuckle thrillers including “Captain Philips,” “Gravity,” and “All Is Lost” hit the screen, it seems for her next film she’s looking to step into similarly distressing waters.
Variety reports Kidman has signed on to return to her native home of Australia for “Strangerland,” a indie mystery drama that will also allow Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce to let loose their natural accents in co-starring roles. Following a couple whose relationship is pushed to its breaking point after their two teenage children disappear into the Outback, the film was written by Fiona Seres and Michael Kinirons and marks the dramatic feature debut of director Kim Farrant, who previously directed the documentary “Naked on the Inside,” and also episodes of the Australian TV show “Rush”.
The Dragonfly Pictures/Fastnet Films-produced drama is being backed by Screen Australia, as a part of a $32.3 million support package for five feature films that display “strong creative potential and massive A-list festival potential.” And certainly, with Kidman set to return to the small-scale thriller tone of films like “Dead Calm,” alongside a stellar pair of leading men, “Strangerland” seems one on which to keep tabs.