Angelina Jolie will write, direct and produce the film “Without Blood,” starring Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir.
Jolie is shooting the film with super-indie production company Fremantle, with whom she signed a three-year international film deal in March. Principal photography has begun in the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Basilicata, as well as in Rome.
Based on the international bestseller by Italian writer Alessandro Baricco and set after an unknown conflict, the film is intended to explore “universal truths about war, trauma, memory and healing.”
Hayek Pinault (“Frida,” “Eternals”) and Bichir (“A Better Life,” “Hateful 8”) will star alongside an international cast and production team.
The film is produced by Fremantle; Jolie’s production company Jolie Productions; Fremantle-backed The Apartment Pictures, founded by Lorenzo Mieli, and De Maio Entertainment, founded by Lorenzo De Maio. The film will be distributed worldwide by Fremantle.
Without Blood is Jolie’s fifth film as a director and her first under her film deal with Fremantle in March of this year. Jolie and Fremantle will work together to develop an internationally focused slate of feature films, documentaries and original series.
Jolie is represented by WME and attorneys Robert Offer and Lindsey Strasberg of Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Hayek Pinault is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360 and attorneys Edelstein, Laird & Sobel. Bichir is also represented by CAA.
Jolie said: “It’s an honour for me to be here in Italy and to film this very special material. I have also entrusted Alessandro Baricco with the adaptation of his book – with its unique poetry and emotion and view of war and the questions it raises about what we look for after trauma, loss or injustice.”
Jennifer Mullin, Global CEO of Fremantle, said: “Without Blood is the first production under our partnership with Angelina and we are excited to be working with her and the incredible international team she has assembled. This project underlines Fremantle’s ongoing commitment to producing high quality feature films and original dramas with the best talent from around the world.”
Without Blood underlines Fremantle’s ambitions in the film business. The company recently won a prize at Cannes for Félix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains, which shared the Jury Prize with Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO. Meanwhile, Paolo Sorrentino’s Fremantle-produced The Hand of God was nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film earlier this year.
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