EXCLUSIVE: Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious franchise) and Richard Gere (The Agency) are set to star in plane survival thriller Left Seat, we can reveal.
The synopsis reads: “When a traveling pharmaceutical rep (Rodriguez) is forced to take control of a small charter plane after the pilot falls unconscious mid-flight, she must rely on the help of a stranger (Gere) over the radio, to navigate through deadly storms and land the aircraft before the fuel runs out.”
The film will be directed by Ben Younger (Bleed for This) from David M. Crabtree’s screenplay, with current revisions by Younger. Anton is handling international sales, and WME Independent will handle North American sales, launching at the Marche du Film.
Pic is being produced by longtime Mandalay President Jason Michael Berman under his new banner A/Vantage Pictures. Berman’s credits from his decade plus run at Mandalay include Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, which is premiering at this year’s Cannes festival, Ben Affleck’s Air and The Birth Of A Nation. David M. Crabtree and Ben Younger will also produce. Executive-producing are Peter Guber for Mandalay Pictures and Matthew Lindner and Jordan Moldo for A/Vantage Pictures. A/Vantage Pictures is providing financing.
Berman said: “I am thrilled to be bringing David M. Crabtree’s brilliant screenplay to life, which is a visceral cinematic experience that explores important themes of the human experience with emotional depth. To have Ben Younger directing and writing on the movie will create the most authentic experience possible for our audience, as Ben is a pilot in real life, as well as a brilliant filmmaker and screenwriter who creates movies with incredible tension, along with heart. And finally, to be working with the extraordinarily talented actors Michelle Rodriguez and Richard Gere to bring Left Seat to the screen is a dream come true.”
Rodriguez, also well known for the Resident Evil and Machete franchises, has Fast X: Part 2 upcoming. Hollywood icon Gere currently stars in drama The Agency and starred last year in Paul Schrader’s Cannes title Oh, Canada with Uma Thurman and Jacob Elordi.
Rodriguez is repped by WME; Gere is repped by WME; Younger is repped by CAA; Crabtree is repped by Management 360.
