THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – Kristen Stewart has boarded Love Lies Bleeding, a romantic thriller set in the world of bodybuilding that will be directed by Rose Glass, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed British film Saint Maud.
A24, which just released the multiverse action movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, is backing the movie along with Film4, the feature division of the U.K.’s Channel 4.
Glass co-wrote the script with Weronika Tofilska, with sources saying the story is centered on the extreme qualities it takes to succeed in the competitive world of bodybuilding.
Stewart is playing the co-lead of the story, the protective lover of a female bodybuilder.
The companies are, at this stage, describing the project as a romance fueled by ego, desire and the American dream.
A24 will produce alongside Andrea Cornwell for Lobo Films and Oliver Kassman for Escape Plan Productions.
Film4 developed the film alongside the filmmakers and will co-finance with A24. The filmmakers are hoping to cast the lead as authentically as possible, with the search currently underway.
A24 will handle the global release of the film. The company is coming off the March opening of X, the new horror from Ti West, and last week’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, from the directing duo known as the Daniels. The movies have generated outstanding reviews and are seen as a welcome influx of original movies into theaters.
On tap next is Men, the latest movie from Ex Machina filmmaker Alex Garland, in May, followed by the whimsical adventure Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, which is out in June.
Glass directed several shorts before bursting onto the feature scene with Maud, the 2019 psychological horror centered on a nun obsessed with a patient. The movies earned her the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director at the British Independent Film Awards, on top of 15 other nominations. It was also nominated for a BAFTA for outstanding British film of the year as well as outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer. She is repped by Casarotto Ramsay.
Stewart landed her first Oscar nomination earlier this year for portraying future Princess of Wales Diane Spencer in the biopic Spencer, directed by Pablo Larrain. Prior to that, she starred in the holiday rom-com Happiest Season. She is repped by WME and McKuin Frankel.
