EXCLUSIVE: Daisy Ridley Thriller ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’ Adds ‘Sunshine’ & ‘Hanna’ Cinematographer Alwin Küchler

The Ronin can confirm that German cinematographer Alwin Küchler has joined the upcoming Neil Burger-directed thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter. The pic begins shooting this month in Toronto with Star Wars actors Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom, Killing Them Softly) taking main roles.

Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be. More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King–because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter. 

His feature film credits include Joe Wright’s Hanna, Neil Burger’s Divergent, Danny Boyle films Sunshine and Steve Jobs alongside additional photography for Netflix’s Project Power. Alwin recently worked on the MARV Films’ video game development biopic Tetris directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth) and stars Taron Edgerton (Rocketman, Eddie The Eagle, Kingsman 1-2).

Writers Mark L. Smith (Overlord, The Revenant, The Midnight Sky) and Elle Smith adapted the Karen Dionne novel for the screen. Mark was also working with Quentin Tarantino to develop a Star Wars film for Paramount that seemingly has stalled.

Mendelsohn will reprise his Marvel Cinematic Universe role, Talos, in the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. The Marvel sci-fi show will focus on the shape-shifting Skrulls replacing superheroes as the aliens attempt to invade Earth. It’s possible he’ll also appear in Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels.

A release date for The Marsh King’s Daughter hasn’t been set.

Fellow ‘Star Wars’ Alum Ben Mendelsohn To Play Daisy Ridley’s Father In Thriller ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’

Yesterday, we were able to confirm production dates for Neil Burger’s upcoming thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter starring Star Wars franchise star Daisy Ridley, that will be filming June to August in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

There is some fresh casting news coming from Deadline as Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn will be playing the notorious Marsh King in the film.

Helena (Ridley), a woman living a seemingly ordinary life, but hiding a dark secret: her father (Mendelsohn) is the infamous “Marsh King,” the man who kept her and her mother captive in the wilderness for years. After a lifetime of trying to escape her past, Helena is forced to face her demons when her father unexpectedly escapes from prison.

Like Ridley, Ben is a Star Wars alum playing the main antagonist in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He is also attached to reprise the role of Talos in Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion series for Disney+ and his involvement with The Marsh King’s Daughter would support talk that the MCU event won’t be shooting in the United Kingdom until later in the year.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Neil Burger Thriller ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’ Starring ‘Star Wars’ Alum Daisy Ridley Shooting June To August In Toronto

Director Neil Burger (Voyagers, Limitless) is set to direct a feature film adaptation of the Karen Dionne novel The Marsh King’s Daughter with Daisy Ridley set to take the film’s leading role. Ridley is best known for her role as Rey Skywalker in the sequel trilogy Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Helena (Ridley), a woman living a seemingly ordinary life, but hiding a dark secret: her father is the infamous “Marsh King,” the man who kept her and her mother captive in the wilderness for years. After a lifetime of trying to escape her past, Helena is forced to face her demons when her father unexpectedly escapes from prison.

The Ronin has learned that filming in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is expected to kick-off on June 7 and wrap sometime in early August. Daisy previously spent time in Canada shooting the Dough Liman sci-fi action film Chaos Walking co-starring Spider-Man’s Tom Holland in Montreal, Quebec.

STXfilms had nabbed the film’s domestic distribution rights last month but currently doesn’t have a release date.

Daisy Ridley has recently expressed an interest to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe even after previously tackling a large franchise like Star Wars. Fans have been campaigning online to see her as a contender to play Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman in Olivia Wilde’s untitled Sony/Marvel film.

RIDLEY: “Well, it’s funny because someone asked me off the cuff about the Spider-Woman rumors recently, and I went, ‘Oh, that sounds great.’ Apparently, I’ve now declared myself a front-runner to be Spider-Woman which isn’t true!. It’s funny because I don’t really choose things… I [didn’t] set out to do another ‘big film.’ I just read the script, loved it, and loved the idea of it.”

“Basically, should something come along and be great, of course, I’d be open to anything. I just finished WandaVision. What they did with it is so amazing and different and interesting. To be particularly in that world, which is ever-shifting and reimagining itself would be very exciting.”

Daisy Ridley Starring In Neil Burger’s Thriller ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’ – Begins Shooting This Summer

Star Wars franchise alumni Daisy Ridley has secured a leading role in an upcoming thriller from director Neil Burger (Limitless), titled The Marsh King’s Daughter, which will see Ridley playing a woman that has to deal with her past as her violent father escapes from prison.

The project is a joint collaboration between Black Bear and STX.

Screenwriters Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith adapted the Karen Dionne novel for the screen.

Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be. More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King–because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter. 

Filming is said to begin this summer after the project has been trying to get off the ground for years.

Daisy’s next film is Doug Liman’s sci-fi flick Chaos Walking, where she co-stars with Spider-Man actor Tom Holland.

SOURCE: DEADLINE