Rocket Science has acquired the rights to Cliffhanger, which they will produce alongside Neal Moritz’s Original Film (The Fast and the Furious franchise). The female-led reboot of the 1993 classic will be directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) based on a script by Sascha Penn (Creed II). Casting is currently underway for a female lead to headline an ensemble cast, with Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones) in talks for a cameo.
Amirpour said: “I am very excited to partner with Original Films and Rocket Science, who share my passion for the character-driven high-adrenalin survival movie; one of my favorite genres. We are setting out to create a thrill-ride on the mountain which taps into the primal side of an action movie, where you see what a person is capable of doing to survive in the most extreme situations, pushed to the limits. Add to that some high-stakes espionage and a badass female mountain climber as the lead and it becomes a truly epic reinvention of what made the original Cliffhanger movie so fun and so thrilling.”
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“I’ve been wanting to re-make this adrenaline filled survival thriller with a strong female protagonist – both in front of and behind the camera – for some time. The elements came together with Ana Lily and Rocket Science and we look forward to gathering the rest of the pieces. I’ve always wanted to make the movies I want to see — big at their core with characters which connect to the audience while simultaneously encouraging them to leave their house and go to a theater. Cliffhanger is just that, in what we hope will be the first of an entirely new franchise,” Mortiz added.
Neal Moritz and Toby Jaffe will produce under their Original Film banner alongside Thorsten Schumacher and partner Lars Sylvest for Rocket Science, who will also finance. Rocket Science acquired the rights to Cliffhanger from StudioCanal and will be handling foreign sales, commencing in Cannes.
Amirpour wrote and directed the critically acclaimed A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and The Bad Batch which starred Jason Momoa and Suki Waterhouse and won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Amirpour is also set to direct the Kate Hudson starrer Blood Moon, produced by John Lesher, with principal photography beginning in New Orleans next month.
Moritz, under his Original Film banner, is the producer of The Fast and the Furious franchise. Recent credits include Escape Room for Sony’s Columbia Pictures as well as upcoming titles including The Art of Racing in the Rain, starring Kevin Costner which will be released on Sept. 27, Sonic the Hedgehog which Paramount Pictures will release on Nov. 8, and the upcoming Bloodshot starring Vin Diesel, which will be released by Sony Feb. 21, 2020.
