Director Mimi Cave – who recently made her feature directorial debut with the thriller Fresh – is now set to take the helm of a Hitchcockian thriller called Holland, Michigan, and she’s busy building a supporting cast around the film’s star and producer Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge). A couple weeks ago, it was announced that Gael García Bernal (Werewolf by Night) had joined the cast. Now Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and child actor Jude Hill (Belfast) have also signed on to play roles in Holland, Michigan. Details on their characters have not been shared.
Holland, Michigan is a project that has spent the last decade in development hell. It started out with a screenplay by Andrew Sodroski, creator of the Discovery television series Manhunt, that was featured on the Black List back in 2013. At one point, documentarian Errol Morris was going to direct a version of Holland, Michigan that was going to star Naomi Watts, Bryan Cranston, and Edgar Ramirez. But it fell apart before filming could begin. Now Cave and Kidman are pushing the project into production for Amazon Prime Video.
Most details about Holland, Michigan are being kept under wraps. All that’s being said about the plot is that it “involves secrets that lurk beneath a Midwestern town with a Hitchcock bent.” But here’s the synopsis that was given when the script was on the Black List nine years ago: When a traditional Midwestern woman suspects her husband of infidelity, an amateur investigation unravels.
Kidman is producing the film with Per Saari, through her company Blossom Films. In addition to Kidman and Saari, Holland, Michigan is being produced by Peter Dealbert of Pacific View Management & Productions. Kate Churchill serves as executive producer.
It seemed a safe bet that Kidman and Bernal are playing the roles that Watts and Ramirez were once attached to play. Could Macfadyen be taking on the role that once belonged to Cranston? Perhaps. As far as we know, the Errol Morris version never got as far as casting a child actor, so Hill has no earlier counterpart.
Are you interested in Holland, Michigan? What do you think of the cast Cave is putting together? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.