Julia Garner (Ozark) and Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections) have signed on to star in The Royal Hotel, an Australian production that’s being described as a “social thriller”. Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) also has a role in the film, which will be directed by Kitty Green from a screenplay she wrote with Oscar Redding. Green and Garner previously worked together on Green’s feature directorial debut, the 2019 drama The Assistant.
Said to be inspired by true events, The Royal Hotel will follow
Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick), two best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called The Royal Hotel in a remote Outback mining town. Bar owner Billy (Weaving) and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture, but things turn nasty when their jokes and behavior cross the line. Soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
Filming is set to begin in Australia this summer. The Royal Hotel is being produced by See-Saw Films’ Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, and Liz Watts, along with Kath Shelper of Scarlett Pictures. See-Saw Films’ Simon Gillis serves as executive producer.
Sherman and Canning provided the following statement to The Hollywood Reporter:
Kitty has a truly distinctive cinematic voice, and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with her on this gripping, rollercoaster of a journey into the heart of the Australian outback.”
Green added:
Like we saw with The Assistant, The Royal Hotel will get under the skin of audiences, bringing a sense of adrenaline and edge of seat compulsion to watch. We are delighted to be adding the incredible Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving to our cast alongside the brilliant Julia Garner.”
HanWay Films is handling international sales and distribution in partnership with Cross City Films, and HanWay’s Gabrielle Stewart had this to say:
We are hugely excited to work with See-Saw Films on The Royal Hotel. Following in the thematic footsteps of The Assistant, this time Kitty Green gets to crank up the tension with a chilling, entertaining, yet all too recognizable tale of young women confronting the toxic masculine environment that threatens their trip of a lifetime. A universal story that is horribly recognizable.”
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