Angelina Jolie Stars in Pablo Larraín’s ‘Maria,’ Widely Sold

On the heels of a Venice world premiere, FilmNation has secured deals across Europe for Maria, starring Angelina Jolie as the revered operatic soprano, Maria Callas.

The international sales agent inked deals with Studiocanal for the U.K., Germany, and Poland, ARP for France, and 01 Distribution for Italy, where Callas solidified her status as an opera legend. Additional deals were made with Sun Distribution for LATAM, Spain, Portugal, and South Africa, and others such as Pathe for Switzerland and The Searchers for the Benelux region.

Based on true accounts, Maria tells the tumultuous, beautiful, and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris. The Venice Film Festival world premiere of Maria was met with an eight-minute standing ovation, which included Jolie and Pablo Larraín in attendance.

Following its debut on the Lido, the film is set to stream on Netflix in the U.S. at an undisclosed date. “I’m excited to partner again with the Netflix team who care so passionately about movies,” Larraín stated regarding the deal. “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.”

Directed by Larraín and written by Steven Knight, Maria also stars Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Valeria Golino.

The film’s producer credits are shared by Juan de Dios Larraín, Jonas Dornbach, and Lorenzo Mieli. Fremantle Group financed the film, with The Apartment, Fabula, Komplizen, and Fremantle producing.

Source: Variety