EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has enlisted Carlson Young (Upgraded) to direct Maia Reficco (La Dolce Villa) in The Last Sunrise, a feature adaptation of the bestselling romance novel from the After series’ Anna Todd.
Anna Klassen is adapting the script, with Todd on board to produce alongside Ethea Entertainment’s Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, Lena Roklin from Luber Roklin Entertainment, and Brian Pitt from Pitt Street.
The Last Sunrise follows 22-year-old Oriah “Ry” Pera (Reficco), whose life transforms during a summer in Majorca when she meets an infuriatingly charming local named Julián. Between chronic health issues and her mother’s overprotective tendencies, Ry feels like she’s stuck waiting for her life to begin. When her mother’s job relocates them to Majorca, Ry sees this as her chance for a coming-of-age story. As the summer continues, Julián pulls Ry out of her shell and into the adventures she’s always craved, but with her return to America looming, Ry must decide if she’s brave enough to finally follow her heart.
The project brings Young back to Amazon MGM Studios following Upgraded, a rom-com starring Camila Mendes, Archie Renaux, and Marisa Tomei that she directed for the studio. Reficco joins after starring opposite KJ Apa in Amazon MGM’s motorcycle racing pic One Fast Move. Ethea’s Gibgot and Panay previously worked on the After films, based on Todd’s novels, alongside recent projects, including the upcoming film inspired by Bumble founder, and Tinder co-founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd’s story for 20th Century Studios, starring Lily James and Myha’la, and releasing on Hulu this fall. Brian Pitt from Pitt Street co-produced the After films, with Roklin (who reps both Young and Reficco) counting both Upgraded and One Fast Move among her past producing credits.
Otherwise perhaps best known for starring in Netflix’s La Dolce Villa, Reficco is coming off an eight-month run as Eurydice in the Broadway production Hadestown. She is is represented by CAA, Luber Roklin Entertainment, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.
Young is an actor-turned-filmmaker who debuted her first feature, The Blazing World, at the 2021 Film Festival. Most recently, she directed the thriller Trust, starring Sophie Turner, Billy Campbell and Katey Segal, which Paramount releases in theaters on August 22. She is repped by WME, Luber Roklin, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.
Todd’s involvement as producer of The Last Sunrise continues her transition from bestselling author to filmmaker. Seeing her After books sell over 12 million copies worldwide, she founded entertainment company Frayed Pages Media in 2017 and most recently produced the Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You, slated for release on October 24, for Paramount Pictures.
Klassen is repped by Untitled Entertainment, WME, and Myman Greenspan Fox.
