Oscar winner Anne Hathaway will both produce and star in a new film entitled Grounded. Based on George Brant’s well-regarded stage play, Grounded tells the story of an American Air Force pilot who is put in charge of an unmanned drone. Possibly a smart move considering how well recent war-drone art house title Eye in the Sky has been performing at the box office. Brant will pen the screenplay for the movie. Entertainment 360 and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment are producing. Variety was the first to break this story.
Last year, Hathaway starred in an off-Broadway production of Grounded under the direction of Julie Taymor at the Public Theater. The one-woman show earned the actress warm notices and quickly became a passion project for Hathaway – she reportedly picked up film rights before her first performance. There’s no word yet on who may direct the film – Taymor, however, does have both film and stage experience under the belt including the blockbuster Broadway run of The Lion King (and not so blockbuster Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) as well as the films Frida (2002), Across the Universe (2007) and The Tempest (2010).
Since winning an Oscar for her acclaimed performance in Tom Hopper’s musical Les Misérables, Hathaway has appeared on screen opposite Matthew McConaughey in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and last fall’s sleeper The Intern opposite Robert De Niro from director Nancy Meyers. She will next be seen in Disney’s upcoming Alice Through the Looking Glass where Hathaway will reprise her Alice in Wonderland role of the White Queen. Last this year, we may be able to feast on Colossal, a science fiction thrill ride which stars Hathaway as well as Dan Stevens (The Guest) and Austin Stowell (Bridge of Spies).
No word yet on when production is slated to start. We will continue to follow the latest on Grounded.