Charlize Theron is teaming up with Niki Caro, director of Disney’s live-action Mulan, for a film about female surfers.
The project is in the works at Netflix, where Theron has already starred in The Old Guard. Becky Johnston (The Prince Of Tides, Seven Years In Tibet) will pen the screenplay.
The film will be based on Daniel Duane‘s New York Times Magazine article titled ‘The Fight for Gender Equality in One of the Most Dangerous Sports on Earth’.
The article explores the lack of gender equality in big-wave surfing, and the real-life women who are fighting for inclusivity – Bianca Valenti, Andrea Moller, Paige Alms, and Keala Kennelly.
This should be pretty interesting. Most surfing films are usually genre-based, or often animated. Think Point Break, The Shallows, or Surf’s Up. This might be closer to something like Big Wednesday, a coming of age film exploring the lives of some California surfers against the backdrop of the Vietnam war.
Hopefully Caro’s film – which is currently untitled – can use its surfing setting to explore how deeply ingrained misogyny and gender inequality still is in so many facets of society, even esoteric sports like surfing.
It’s not currently confirmed that Theron will be playing one of the four lead roles, but it’s widely expected that she will. The other three roles should be sought after. You get to surf opposite Charlize Theron in a film about important issues – what actor wouldn’t want that job?
Theron will soon be seen reprising her role as Cipher in F9, while she’s currently filming the adaptation of fantasy fairytale The School For Good And Evil, also for Netflix. Caro’s latest project is an adaptation of bestselling novel Daisy Jones & The Six, in development at Amazon.
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