Marjane Satrapi will direct “The Voices” for Mandalay Vision and Vertigo Entertainment, Mandalay confirmed on Tuesday.
This will be the first English language, live-action film for Satrapi, the director of 2007 animated Oscar nominee “Persepolis.” Her first live-action feature, “Chicken with Plums,” a French drama, opened overseas last year. Both films are based on graphic novels Satrapi wrote.
“The Voices” is a Black List script written by Michael R. Perry ("Paranormal Activity 2") that details a disturbed factory worker who goes on and off his medications. Told from the man's point of view, it mixes a dark subject matter with comedic notes.
Also read: The Imitation Game' Tops 2011 Black List
Roy Lee's Vertigo first bought the script, and when Mandalay came aboard, they began looking for directors.
“We got lucky in finding the unique voice of Marjane Satrapi; she is a total visionary,” Mandalay Vision president Matt Rhodes told TheWrap. “She is a character-driven, performance-driven filmmaker. The heightened sense of reality that Marjane works in is just perfect for this story.”
They will cast the psychological thriller in the coming weeks and view this as a film with commercial potential, especially given the right big-name actor in the lead.
It will start shooting next year at Berlin’s Babelsburg film studio, which is where Setrapi shot “Chicken with Plums.” The historic studio, setting for films such as “Metropolis” and “The Reader,” celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.