Following back-to-back box office hits “The Woman King” and “Black Adam,” Viola Davis will command the lead role in political thriller “G20” for Prime Video.
Davis will star as Taylor Sutton, a U.S. president who must channel her extensive state leadership and military experience to defend her country when a terrorist group overtakes the G20 Summit.
Patricia Riggen, the filmmaker behind “The 33” and “Miracles From Heaven” has signed on to direct. Noah and Logan Miller (“White Boy Rick”) wrote the script, with Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss (“The Red Lion”) contributing revisions.
Davis and Julius Tennon will produce via their JuVee Productions banner, along with Andrew Lazar on behalf of Mad Chance.
Developed with MRC Film, the Amazon Original feature will premiere on Prime Video.
“Viola is truly a one-of-a-kind talent both in front of and behind the camera, and we can’t wait to watch her bring the dynamic character that is President Sutton to life,” said Julie Rapaport, head of movies at Amazon Studios.
“Viola bringing her unmatched strength, depth and humor to this kind of fun, popcorn movie is something we cannot wait to see,” MRC Film co-presidents Brye Adler and Jonathan Golfman said. “In Patricia, we have the perfect director to balance a grounded character story with a satisfying genre film. We are thrilled to be partnering with Prime Video to help bring this movie to a global audience.”
In addition to “The Woman King” and “Black Adam,” Davis also played Michelle Obama in Showtime’s “The First Lady” series earlier this year. She has a number of projects in the pipeline, including “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” in which she’ll star as Dr. Volumnia Gaul; “Operation Othello,” which she’ll narrate; the Ben Affleck-directed “Air Jordan”; Universal’s “I Almost Forgot About You”; and an untitled Harriet Tubman movie at HBO.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news.