Aussie multi-hyphenate Joel Edgerton has a full plate (we will next see him in The Odd Life of Timothy Green, The Great Gatsby, and Zero Dark Thirty orwhateveritiswerecallingitnow), but that’s not stopping him from expanding his resume to continue to include writing and directing ventures. News from Cannes reveals that Edgerton will next star in Felony, a film to be directed by Matthew Saville from Edgerton’s own script. Edgerton previously co-wrote The Square, a nasty little film noir with a big bite, and he’s also penned a number of shorts for Blue-Tongue Films (the Aussie conglomerate that also includes his brother Nash Edgerton, Kieran Darcy-Smith, David Michod, Spencer Susser, and more).
Felony will center on Edgerton’s character, a lauded police officer who makes the critical mistake of driving home after imbibing “a celebration drink with his team after the long waited bust of a major gang, [he] runs a young cyclist off the road. As he gives CPR to the child, fellow officers arrive to take his statement. In a split second decision he tells them a lie about the accident which will change all their lives in this edge of your seat thriller.” If you’re familiar with The Square, you’ll know just how adept Edgerton is at crafting thrillers that spin wildly (yet believably) out of control. Felony sounds like a perfect fit.
Saville, while not well-known in the States, is a big talent in Australia. Most notably, his feature film Noise (2007) was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He has directed a number of episodes of popular Aussie televisions series, including We Can Be Heroes. The Slap, Tangle, and Please Like Me. He also directed the mini-series Cloudstreet, which helped earn him a 2012 Australian Directors Guild Award.
The film will be financed by The Solution, who are handling international distribution rights for it, which they plan on selling at Cannes. The Solution are also handling Pierce Brosnan’s November Man, Grand Piano, and Writers.
Felony is set to start filming in October.
