Netflix has picked up Pablo Larraín’s Maria, which stars Angelina Jolie as famed opera singer Maria Callas. The move comes ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29.
Following its debut on the Lido, it will stream on Netflix at an undisclosed date.
On Wednesday, Larraín said in a statement: “I’m excited to partner again with the Netflix team who care so passionately about movies. This film is my most personal work yet. It is a creative imagining and psychological portrait of Maria Callas who, after dedicating her life to performing for audiences around the world, decides finally to find her own voice, her own identity, and sing for herself. I’m deeply honored to tell this story and share it with audiences worldwide like Maria did with her life.”
Based on true accounts, the film Maria will tell the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singers, relived and re-imagined during her final days in 1970s Paris.
Alongside Jolie, the cast also includes Pierfrancesco Favino (Adagio, The Hummingbird), Alba Rohrwacher (La Chimera, Hungry Hearts), Haluk Bilginer (Winter Sleep), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog, Elvis) and Valeria Golino (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Caos Calmo).
The script was written by Steven Knight (Spencer, Peaky Blinders, Eastern Promises). Producers include Juan de Dios Larraín for Fabula, Jonas Dornbach for Komplizen Film and Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment, a Fremantle Company. Worldwide sales for Maria will be handled by FilmNation Entertainment.
