Katherine Waterston Joins Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan In Open Road Films & Sculptor Media Thriller ‘Black Flies’

Anthony D'Alessandro
·3 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Fantastic Beasts franchise star Katherine Waterston is boarding the drama thriller Black Flies opposite 2x Oscar winner Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan.

Deadline first told you about the project, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, when Open Road Films landed U.S. rights to the pic at EFM 2021.

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Based on the novel by Shannon Burke, Black Flies follows the paramedics who save our lives—and the toll it inflicts on theirs. It is an immersive view of life on the streets and one medic’s struggle to maintain his desire to help despite his growing fear that nothing he can do will make a difference. It is the story of lives that hang in the balance and the choices of two men caught in the middle. Ollie Cross (Sheridan) is ready to do good. In preparation for his dream of medical school, he hits the streets driving an ambulance alongside Rutkovsky (Penn), a grizzled veteran and one of New York’s best medics. Ryan King and Ben Mack Brown are adapting for the big screen.

Cameras are rolling in New York City. The film is being produced under the Sculptor Media banner alongside Force Majeure, James Masciello’s creative producing arm, and Projected Picture Works. FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales Producers are Warren Goz for Sculptor Media, Eric Gold for Sculptor Media, Christopher Kopp, Lucan Toh; Penn, John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth for Projected Picture Works. EPs are Luke Rodgers, Sheridan, James Masciello, Matthew Sidari and Tom Ortenberg.

Goz told Deadline, “We are so excited to have Katherine on board Black Flies. Black Flies is an authentic story about how the impact the job of a first responder has on their personal lives. We have assembled a cast of some of the finest actors in the world to portray this important story. Katherine’s incredible body of work in playing the most authentic roles makes her the perfect fit for Black Flies.”

Upcoming for Waterston is Paramount’s Damien Chazelle feature Babylon and season 2 of HBO’s Perry Mason. She recently reprised her role as Tina Goldstein in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore which has grossed over $332M WW and sent the Harry Potter spinoff trilogy to $1.8 billion. She received great reviews in Bleecker Street’s period romance The World to Come opposite Casey Affleck and Vanessa Kirby, which made its world premiere at Venice. She also starred last year in the HBO limited series The Third Day. Other feature credits include Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant which grossed over $240M WW, Jonah Hill’s Mid90s, Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice which won the Robert Altman award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2015. Waterston also starred on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. She is repped by UTA, 42, Silver Lining Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.

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