“Captain America: Civil War” star Daniel Brühl has boarded Lone Scherfig’s upcoming feature “The Movie Teller,” Variety can reveal.
The BAFTA-nominated actor, who recently reprised his Marvel role in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and has appeared in features including “Rush” and “Inglourious Basterds,” will star alongside Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”) and Antonio de la Torre (“Marshland”) in the film.
Embankment are executive producing the film and have launched worlwide sales, co-repping Latin American rights with Latido Films. A Contracorriente Films’ Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”), Selenium Films’ Vincent Juillerat and Andres Mardones of Al Tiro Films are producing.
Directed by BAFTA nominee Scherfig (“An Education”), “The Movie Teller” sees Brühl star as Nansen, a European outsider who, via his restraint and diplomacy, earns the respect of the families he encounters at a Chilean mine before embarking on a relationship with a local woman, María Magnolia (played by Bejo).
In particular, Nansen becomes a second father to María’s daughter (played by newcomer Sara Becker), whose unusual gift for story-telling leads her to becoming the poverty-stricken town’s resident “movie teller.” With the local families unable to afford cinema tickets, the town bands together to raise enough money to send María’s daughter to the movie theater alone so that she can recount to them the stories she has seen on screen upon her return, transporting them to the cinema as she brings the tales to life.
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The Spanish-language film, which is a Spanish, French, and Chilean co-production, is set to start shooting on March 21 on location in Pedro de Valdivia, in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
“The Movie Teller” is adapted from Hernán Rivera Letelier’s award-winning autobiographical novel about life among the mining community in Chile’s Atacama Desert, which has been published worldwide and translated into 19 languages.
The book was first adapted by Walter Salles (“The Motorcycle Diaries”) and Rafa Russo (“The Year of Fury”).
“I am overjoyed that Daniel Brühl has now joined our cast alongside Bérénice Bejo, Antonio de la Torre and Sarah Becker,” says Scherfig. “His part is full of secrets and inner drama, also moments of warmth and humour. Adding his South American background, he’ll layer this character with depth and emotion.”
Starring alongside Brühl are Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee Antonio de la Torre and award-winning Chilean actor José Soza. María Magnolia’s daughter will be played by both Becker and another actor, who will portray a younger version of the character.
Daniel Aranyó (“Spider-Man: Far from Home”) joins as director of photography alongside production designer Carlos Conti (“The Motorcycle Diaries”), composer Fernando Velázquez (“Crimson Peak”) and costume designer Mercé Paloma (“The Bookshop”).
