Aman Goyal
Hollywood North will stand in for Catalina Island in Alonso Alvarez-Barreda’s next feature! The filming of the movie adaptation of Kaira Rouda’s bestselling thriller novel ‘Beneath the Surface’ will start on August 20 and last until December 10.
The narrative begins with an overnight voyage on the Splendid Seas with an invitation to Catalina Island from billionaire CEO Richard Kingsley. For his sons, Ted and John, and their wives, it’s an opportunity to curry favor, gain control of a real estate empire, and secure their family’s futures. For the controlling patriarch, succession is a contest. He and his newest wife won’t make it an easy win. Then Richard’s estranged live-wire daughter, Sibley, crashes the party. She’s the least of the night’s surprises.
As the plot progresses, the stakes for the inheritance of the Kingsley legacy are raised, and the beautiful waters of the Pacific look more like a menacing illusion. The games begin for a family who has everything money can buy and has used lies, deception, and more to keep it. This weekend, one of them will be crowned heir. One is in line to lose everything. That’s the plan. But in the coming storm, so much can go dangerously wrong.
‘Beneath the Surface’ is one of Alvarez-Barreda’s four upcoming feature directorials, along with ‘The Janitor,’ ‘When Fingers Leave No Prints,’ and ‘The Wingwalker.’ The latter film — arriving this year in the fall — will mark the Mexican filmmaker’s feature directorial debut. He is best known for his television exploits, having directed various episodes of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer,’ ‘Snowfall,’ ‘American Horror Stories,’ ‘The Mosquito Coast,’ and ‘Kindred.’ The filmmaker came to recognition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where he won the NFB Online Short Film Competition for ‘Historia de un Letrero.’
Rouda’s 2023 bestseller recently spawned a sequel, ‘Under the Palms,’ making way for the creation of ‘The Kingsleys’ novel series. The author has another upcoming adaptation coming her way with the television movie ‘The Favorite Daughter,’ an adaptation of her 2019 novel of the same name.
Described as a crossover between acclaimed comedy dramas ‘The White Lotus’ and ‘Succession,’ the project is being developed by Good Fear Content. The production company offered the project to Alvarez-Barreda while working on the upcoming series ‘Hysteria!’ In a press statement, the director expressed his gratitude towards producers Jake Weiner and Chris Bender, wishing for more collaborations in the future. The renowned company is best known for producing director David Robert Mitchell’s ‘Under the Silver Lake.’ The banner will also be releasing his next project, ‘Flowervale Street,’ which stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, next year.
Toronto offers a dynamic backdrop for film productions from all around the world. In August, the Ontarian city experiences warm summer weather, which, along with its extensive infrastructure, makes it an ideal locale for shooting a film of this scale. The production crew will likely shoot interior scenes in local studio sets, while sequences with the luxurious yacht will require access to the Toronto Harbourfront. Other projects aiming to arrive in the region over the next few months include the next seasons of ‘Citadel,’ ‘Fallout,’ ‘Twisted Metal,’ and ‘Gen V,’ as well as the brand-new Paramount+ show ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.’
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