Lena Headey to Make Directorial Debut on Psychological Thriller ‘Violet’

“Game of Thrones” star will direct the feature film based on a novel by SJI Holliday

Lena Headey Violet
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“Game of Thrones” star Lena Headey is set to make her directorial debut on a film called “Violet,” a psychological thriller that’s in the vein of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Single White Female.”

“Violet” is based on a 2019 book by author SJI Holliday, and it concerns two solo female travelers who form an intense friendship while in a cramped cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express. But things quickly start to unravel when it becomes clear that one of the women is not who she claims to be.

Gareth Pritchard wrote the script. Production is meant to begin in October 2022.

Goldfinch Entertainment is producing and financing “Violet,” with Ben Charles Edwards and Phil McKenzie co-producing for Goldfinch and Pritchard also co-producing for his Sankara Pictures. Mark Foligno of Limelight CTL will also co-produce.

Ed Boase and Marcus Stamps of Dark Alliance Film, which originally optioned the book, will executive produce.

“Susi’s ‘Violet’ is a compulsive page turner that stayed with me long after I finished the book – it’s exciting that my first feature as a director will be such an intense female thriller,” Headey said in a statement. “It’s a wild ride to the finish with vast cinematic scope, centering around two very complex women who will completely unravel over the course of the film. I can’t wait to get rolling!”

“Goldfinch Entertainment exists to fuel incredible projects and creative leaps – and we’re excited to be supporting the multi-talented Lena Headey’s foray into feature directing with this irresistible and chilling female-fronted thriller. Gareth has deftly selected and adapted an impossible to put down book into a riveting exploration of a casual friendship that goes deeply awry – and we can’t wait to see it come to life on screen,” McKenzie added.

Lena Headey in 2019 directed a short film called “The Trap” that was nominated for a BAFTA, and she also directed her “Game of Thrones” co-star Maisie Williams in a music video for the singer Freya Ridings called “You Mean the World to Me.” In 2020 she also directed another music video for the French DJ Madeon.

Deadline first reported the news.

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