Robin Wright’s ‘Land’ Sets Focus Features as Distributor, Taps Demian Bichir as Co-Star (EXCLUSIVE)

Matt Donnelly

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“Land,” the feature directorial debut from actress and producer Robin Wright, has secured Focus Features as a domestic distributor and rounded out its cast.

Shooting is underway in Alberta, Canada, where Variety previously reported the production will capture all four seasons in exteriors. Big Beach is financing and producing with Flashlight Films. Wright will star in the lead role, as a cosmopolitan lawyer who retreats to the wilderness after an unspeakable loss. Demián Bichir will co-star alongside Wright, with “Gone Girl” and Wright’s former “House of Cards” co-star Kim Dickens in a supporting role.

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“Robin has consistently laid bare the strength, soul and vulnerabilities of so many iconic characters over the years as an actress, and we can’t wait for audiences to experience when she draws on that deep well of empathy behind the camera as well,” Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski tells Variety.

Universal Pictures International will handle all foreign distribution on the project. In addition to directing and starring, Wright is executive producing the script from Jesse Chatham with revisions by Erin Dignam.

Producers include Allyn Stewart, Lora Kennedy, and Big Beach’s Peter Saraf and Leah Holzer. John Sloss and Steve Farneth of Cinetic Media will EP with Wright, as well as Nomadic Pictures’ Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev.

Wright’s character Edee Holzer goes far off the grid following a significant tragedy, testing her own will to survive as she hunts, gathers and lives in complete isolation.

“Land is a story of personal transformation out of the most tragic event possible for any of us. I hope that experiencing Edee’s journey toward healing inspires others,” Wright says.

The star has directed numerous episodes of Netflix’s acclaimed “House of Cards,” where she also played the iconic female president Claire Underwood, earning four Golden Globe nominations and one win in 2014, five SAG Award nominations, and six Emmy nominations. She is represented by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.

Bichir is an acclaimed and award-winning Mexican American actor who received Oscar, SAG, ALMA, and Indie Spirit Award nominations for his lead role in the Chris Weitz film “A Better Life,” about a father raising his son in East Los Angeles. He is represented by CAA.

Dickens, who played an entrenched journalist on “House of Cards” and the lead detective in “Gone Girl,” is repped by The Gersh Agency. Meyers is with UTA and Aperture Entertainment. The Focus deal was handled by Cinetic, CAA Media Finance and Hanway.

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