Anthony Mandler will direct the tech-focused corporate spy thriller, which Jeffrey Greenstein’s new company A Higher Standard will pitch to buyers in Cannes.
Anthony Mandler will direct the tech-focused corporate spy thriller, which Jeffrey Greenstein’s new company A Higher Standard will pitch to buyers in Cannes.
Samuel L. Jackson and Henry Golding have signed on to star in Head Games, a psychological thriller with a sci-fi edge that is looking to be one of the hot projects at this year’s Cannes film market.
Music video and film director Anthony Mandler (Monster, Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’) is set to helm Head Games from a script by Colin Liddle, who penned the 2020 Showtime TV movie Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.
Crazy Rich Asians and The Gentlemen star Golding is set to play Jacob, a corporate spy who poses as a personal chef to Graham, the former founder of a neuroprosthetics firm (Jackson). But Jacob’s real goal is to infiltrate his boss’ villa to steal his transformative new invention. As his plan unfolds, nothing is as it seems and the mind games between the two protagonists begin.
Head Games is set to start principal photography this October. A Higher Standard, the new outfit founded by former Millennium boss Jeffrey Greenstein is handling international sales on the project and will be pitching it to buyers in Cannes later this month. CAA Media Finance and Range Media Partners will co-rep domestic sales.
“I couldn’t be more excited to bring this brilliant script to life,” said Greenstein. “Head Games is a propulsive story that pushes the boundaries of what we know as reality and what could ultimately become fiction before our eyes… I couldn’t think of two better actors to bring Graham and Jacob to life than Sam and Henry.”
Range Media Partners’ Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger will produce the film together with Brillstein Entertainment Partners’ Josh Glick and Everlast Pictures’ Adonis Tountas. Greenstein, Range Media Partners’ Casey Durant, Brillstein Entertainment Partners’ Zach Frognowski, and Kesh Keswani will serve as executive producers.
Golding’s other projects include Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, Netflix’s The Old Guard 2, and Lionsgate’s Simple Favor 2. Jackson will be seen next in Netflix’s The Piano Lesson, and Peacock’s Fight Night.
Golding is repped by CAA, Megan Silverman Management and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Jackson is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein and ID. Anthony Mandler is repped by Verve, Liddle by Grandview.