Fresh off her Oscar win in Anora, Mikey Madison is looking to build out her upcoming slate as she is set to star in Reptilia, the latest feature from acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro Landes Echavarría. The film will co-star Academy Award-nominated Kirsten Dunst and is based on a script by Landes Echavarría and Duke Merriman. Pastel, Imperative Entertainment and AF Films are set to produce, alongside Landes Echavarría under his A Stela Cine banner. Black Bear is providing financing.
UTA Independent Film Group and 30WEST will co-handle US distribution rights. The film will be introduced to international buyers at the Cannes Market by Charades. Principal photography will commence in Fall 2025.
The film is about a dental hygienist seduced by a mysterious mermaid into the dark and wet underworld of Florida’s exotic animal trade.
Landes Echavarría previously directed Monos, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award – and went on to win the award for Best Film at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. The film – which enjoyed widespread acclaim was subsequently selected as the official Colombian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. His narrative debut, Porfirio, premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2011, while his first feature – the documentary Cocalero – debuted at Sundance in 2007. Landes Echavarría is an alum of the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs and the Cannes Cinéfondation.
In addition to her best actress win, Anora took home a total of five Academy Awards and won the Palme d’Or. Madison also won the BAFTA for Best Leading Actress and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance; was nominated for a Golden Globe, SAG Award and Critics Choice Award, honored with the Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award and Santa Barbara International Film Festival Virtuoso Award. Madison previously graced the screen in the highly successful Paramount Pictures’ Scream 5 alongside the cast of the original 1996 cult classic. She also had a memorable role in Quentin Taratino’s Academy Award-nominated film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where she shared the screen with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie. Beyond her film endeavors, Madison continues to make waves on television, notably in her role in FX’s critically acclaimed series “Better Things.”
A Cannes Best Actress winner for Melancholia, Dunst is known for her iconic roles in The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, Spider-Man, and The Power of the Dog, which earned her Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, and Critics Choice nominations. Dunst will next appear in Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman opposite Channing Tatum and in Ruben Östlund’s upcoming A24 feature The Entertainment System Is Down. In addition to Dunst’s extensive film career, she also starred in the second installment of the critically acclaimed FX crime comedy-drama Fargo, for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and received both Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations. Other television credits include Showtime’s dark comedy On Becoming “A God In Central Florida”produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney.
Landes Echavarría is represented by UTA and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark. Dunst is represented by UTA, Entertainment 360, and Hansen Jacobson. Madison is represented by UTA and Authentic Talent & Literary Management.
