A pair of Oscar-winning actresses – Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry – team up in the new action thriller Maude v Maude.
Warner Bros. emerged victorious after an “intense multi-studio bidding war” for the project, according to deadline.
Jolie, 47, and Berry, 53 — who made headlines for flipping back to a troll earlier this month — will both star and executive produce the project.
Roseanne Liang (Shadow in the Cloud) directs from a screenplay by Scott Mosier (Free Birds), who both executive produce.
No plot details have been released with the project being described as a “Bond vs. Bourne-type global action thriller,” with locations to be announced at a later date.
Oscar winners: A pair of Oscar-winning actresses – Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry – will team up in the new action thriller Maude v Maude
Headlines: Jolie, 47, and Berry, 53 – who made headlines earlier this month for applauding back a troll – will both star and produce the project
This is the first time Jolie, who won an Oscar for Girl Interrupted in 2000, and Berry, who won her Oscar for Monster’s Ball in 2002, have teamed up on screen.
Both are well versed in the action genre, with Jolie starring in two Tomb Raider movies, Mr. and Mrs. Smith with ex-husband Brad Pitt and Salt.
Berry is no stranger to action either, starring as a Bond girl in 2002’s Die Another Day, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and several X-Men films.
The project first hit the market last weekend and attracted several suitors, although Warner Bros. it eventually won, the latest star-driven package landed by new studio co-heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
While streaming services have been winning high-profile projects like this lately, Warner Bros.
Berry will produce alongside her producing partner Holly Jeter through their company HalleHolly, which was formed in January 2022 to produce films across a variety of genres for women of color both in front of and behind the camera.
Berry is currently filming Never Let Go for Lionsgate, with Jeter executive producing and Alexandre Aja directing.
Maude v Maude is also produced by Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth, who will produce through RK Films.
First Time: This is the first time Jolie, who won an Oscar for Girl Interrupted in 2000, and Berry, who won her Oscar for Monster’s Ball in 2002, have teamed up on screen
Producer: Berry will produce alongside her producing partner Holly Jeter through their HalleHolly company, which was formed in January 2022 to produce films across a variety of genres for women of color both in front of and behind the camera
Jolie is currently in post-production on her latest directorial effort, Without Blood, starring Demian Bichir and Salma Hayek, for which Jolie also wrote the screenplay adaptation based on the book by Alessandro Baricco.
While she hasn’t been seen on the big screen since 2021’s Eternals, she has a number of projects in pre-production, including Maleficent 3 and Maria, in which she plays legendary opera singer Maria Callas.
She’s also attached to star in Every Note Played with Christoph Waltz and return as Tigress in the animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 4.
Berry most recently starred in 2022’s Moonfall and her own directorial debut, 2020’s Bruised, in which she also starred.
She currently has The Mothership in post-production, playing a mother whose husband mysteriously disappeared a year earlier.
When she discovers an alien object beneath their home, her family embarks on an epic adventure to find her husband and the truth.
She also has Our Man From Jersey in post-production, starring Mark Wahlberg, JK Simmons, and Jessica De Gouw.
Mosier first broke into Hollywood as a producer of Kevin Smith’s early films, such as Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy, before writing Free Birds and episodes of Ultimate Spider-Man.
Director: Jolie is currently in post-production on her latest directorial effort, Without Blood, starring Demian Bichir and Salma Hayek, for which Jolie also wrote the screenplay adaptation, based on the book by Alessandro Baricco
In post: She currently has The Mothership in post-production, playing a mother whose husband mysteriously disappeared a year earlier