Academy Award® and Emmy® Award Winner Nicole Kidman (“Big Little Lies,” The Hours) will star in Destroyer, a modern Los Angeles crime thriller to be directed by Karyn Kusama (The Invitation, Girlfight) from an original screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (The Invitation, Ride Along). 30WEST will fully finance the film. Academy Award® Nominee Fred Berger (La La Land) of Automatik is producing alongside Hay and Manfredi, who also wrote and produced Kusama’s critically acclaimed film The Invitation. ROCKET SCIENCE is handling international sales and helped arrange the financing, while ICM Partners and CAA are representing the North American rights to the film.
Destroyer follows the moral and existential odyssey of LAPD detective Erin Bell who, as a young cop, was placed undercover with a cult-like gang in the California desert with tragic results. When the leader of that gang re-emerges many years later, she must work her way back through the remaining members and into her own history with them to finally reckon with the demons that destroyed her past. Casting is currently underway on the film.
“Phil and Matt have written one of the most compelling screenplays I’ve ever read, Nicole is at the top of her game – doing tremendously exciting work – and Karyn is one of the most assured voices working today,” said producer, Fred Berger. “It’s a powerful combination, sure to produce an iconic character, and I feel lucky to be in their company.”
“In bringing together Karyn Kusama and Nicole Kidman, Destroyer is set to be a formidable and intelligent commercial thriller with a commanding female protagonist, said Thorsten Schumacher, Founder and CEO of Rocket Science. “I can’t wait to see them bring Phil and Matt’s incredible script to the screen.”
Kusama made her directorial debut on Girlfight, which starred Michelle Rodriguez. The film was released by Screen Gems and earned Kusama the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the Youth Award at Cannes, the Grand Special Prize at Deauville, and the Open Palm Award at the Gotham Awards.