Guy Pearce has signed to star in Lee Tamahori’s The Convert which UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment will introduce to international buyers at Cannes this month.
The action feature will shoot later this year.
It is co-produced by Auckland-based Jump Film & Television and Australia’s Brouhaha Entertainment. It follows a lay preacher who arrives at a British settlement in 1830s New Zealand where his violent past is drawn into question and his faith is put to the test when he’s caught in the middle of a war between Māori tribes.
Tamahori wrote the script with Shane Danielsen which originated from a screenstory by Michael Bennet.
New Zealander Te Kohe Tuhaka , who will also star in the film, serves as producer alongside Robin Scholes, Andrew Mason and Troy Lum.
Principal photography on the project begins on September 12 around the North Island of New Zealand. New Zealand Film Commission and the New Zealand Premium Production Fund is supporting the production.
Tamahori’s previous credits include Die Another Day, XXX: State of the Union and Once Were Warriors.
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