Michelle Pfeiffer, Kiefer Sutherland to co-star in indie film Beat-Up Little Seagull
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kiefer Sutherland and Michelle Pfeiffer will co-star in the drama Beat-Up Little Seagull. After a lengthy career in almost all studio films, Pfeiffer is taking a plunge into indies with the starring role. Earlier this month, we reported that Sutherland would definitely not be back as Jack Bauer in the seemingly unkillable 24 series (which is all fine and dandy, since Fox wants a younger, hotter counterterrorist agent, anyway). Sutherland suddenly finds himself free of 24 obligations, and although he told BBC he wanted to do more television, for now it looks like he’s further exploring the indie film game, after having starred in the indie Western Forsaken alongside his father Donald Sutherland.
Andrew Dosunmu is set to direct Beat-Up Little Seagull from a screenplay written by Darci Picoult, who worked with Dosunmu on his 2013 Nigerian drama, Mother Of George. Dosunmu collaborated with Picoult in writing the story for Beat-Up Little Seagull, which follows the life of a fragile woman (Pfeiffer) who can’t quite find her footing in a fast-paced world. When her mother dies, she has to fight to survive and support herself but hides her struggles from her new boyfriend (Sutherland).
Beat-Up Little Seagull comes from Killer Films, which has been making some truly killer indies recently. The company produced Emmy-winning HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce as well as this year’s hotly anticipated romantic drama Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as illicit lovers in ’50s New York. The New York-based indie company also made the Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart-starring drama Still Alice, for which Moore won the Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, and Critic’s Choice Award. According to THR, Pfeiffer turned down the leading role in Still Alice, and based on how Moore cleaned up in awards season, she may have made the wrong choice. But it looks like Pfeiffer—who is currently shooting the upcoming HBO film The Wizard Of Lies—is now ready to give indies a chance. Filming is slated to start November 2 in New York.