Gemma Arterton, who starred in The King's Man and Quantum Of Solace, will portray Jackie Kennedy in the upcoming film "37 Heavens".
The film will follow the much-discussed friendship between Kennedy and British diplomat Lord David Harlech, who will be portrayed by Guy Pearce of Mare Of Easttown and The Hurt Locker.
Metro International is commencing international sales on the hot package ahead of the Cannes virtual market, with CAA Media Finance handling North American representation.
Marc Munden, the director of The Third Day and The Secret Garden, will direct from a screenplay written by Steve Austin. Production is set to begin in early 2022.
The film will chronicle Kennedy's well-publicized 1967 trip to Cambodia alongside Harlech, a war veteran and former British Ambassador to the Kennedy White House. The former First Lady arrives in Cambodia as a special guest of Prince Sihanouk, who is keen to reestablish diplomatic connections with the United States, accompanied by an old friend, the recently widowed Harlech. He is on a covert mission for Robert F. Kennedy to stop the Vietnam War – and to spend a week alone with the lady he loves.
Under the enchantment of the enigmatic ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, and far from the excitement of "Jackie-mania," Kennedy opens up to David, and their bond, established in part through mutual suffering, takes her off guard.
In recent years, private correspondence between the two have been discovered, including a proposed "secret marriage" from Harlech that was rejected by Kennedy, who went on to marry Aristotle Onassis shortly after the Cambodia trip.
Jump Street Films' Jamie Bialkower is producing (Summer Coda). Graham Leader (In The Bedroom) and Steve Austin are also producers. Nicholas Simon of Indochina Productions (Da 5 Bloods), Bill Roy, and Nicole LaFountaine serve as executive producers.
"We were instantaneously transported to another time and place after reading Steve Austin's evocative and personal story," producer Jamie Bialkower stated. The film is set against the tides of history and promises to be a profoundly felt romance. Under Marc Munden's remarkable direction, Gemma Arterton and Guy Pearce will bring these interesting and extremely real individuals to life in all of their complexities."
"This is a remarkable, relatively overlooked part of the Jackie Kennedy narrative," said Will Machin, CEO of Metro International. Her legacy continues on, and we can't wait to share this movie with our distribution partners, knowing that they will be as enthusiastic about this magnificent sweeping love tale as we are."
Natalie Portman most recently played Jackie Kennedy in Pablo Larrain's Oscar-nominated 2016 movie Jackie.
