Adrien Brody, Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt will star in the music-driven AIDS drama “Last Dance,” FilmNation announced on Thursday. Karim Aïnouz (“Rosebush Pruning”) will direct from a screenplay by Emily Ziff Griffin, based on her own autobiographical New Yorker article “The Last Dance With My Dad.”
The story follows a celebrated Broadway composer Elliot (Brody) who invites his daughter Emma (Zegler) on a gay cruise through the Caribbean in 1991. But, per the official synopsis, “beneath the joy and abandon, the AIDS crisis casts an ever-deepening shadow. As Elliot retreats from the devastating reality of his illness, father and daughter are forced to confront the unspoken truths between them. In the fleeting time they have left together, can they rediscover each other before the music finally fades?”
Platt will co-star and write original music for the film, while Zegler — fresh off her Broadway run in “Evita” — will sing original songs.
Fifth Season and Lynette Howell Taylor’s 51 Entertainment are producing. Griffin also executive produces. FilmNation Entertainment will launch international sales at the upcoming Cannes market. Fifth Season and CAA Media Finance Group are handling domestic rights.
“I am thrilled to bring to the screen such a unique and moving portrait of a time where hope and celebration allowed our queer community to overcome one of the worst crises of last century,” Aïnouz said in a statement. “When many were dying of AIDS there was a sense of solidarity and fury that made us stronger. ‘Last Dance’ is a universal and urgent tale where joy is taken up as resilience, where the dance floor becomes a pièce de résistance. It is an honour to collaborate with such exquisite talent in order to bring this movie to life in a time where, more than ever, we need fables of hope.”
Aïnouz is repped by CAA, LARK, and Granderson Des Rochers. Brody is repped by CAA, 2PM Sharp, and Kopeikin Law P.C. Zegler is repped by WME, The Initiative Group, and Freundlich Law. Platt is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, Immersive Management, 42West, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hunick Jamie LeVine Sample & Klein. Griffin is repped by WME and Greenberg Glusker.
