Monkey Hill: Olivia Wilde, Gael Garcia Bernal are set to star in sexy and seductive thriller

Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy) and Gael García Bernal (Werewolf by Night) have signed on to star in a psychological thriller called Monkey Hill for director Sarah Adina Smith, whose previous credits include The Midnight Swim, Buster’s Mal Heart, Birds of Paradise, and The Drop, as well as a segment of the horror anthology Holidays and episodes of Wrecked, Room 104, Legion, Hanna, Looking for Alaska, and Lessons in Chemistry, winning the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for directing the pilot episode of that last show. She has also directed half of the upcoming first season of the Game of Thrones spin-off called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

According to Deadline, Monkey Hill is being described as “sexy and seductive.” Based on the Paul Theroux story of the same name, the film will show us what happens when an heiress accused of a white-collar crime hides away with her husband at a luxury resort in an Indian holy city. In deep denial of the growing scandal, they distract themselves with sexual escapades and spiritual dalliances. Meanwhile, the hotel staff who pamper them by the pool return each night to a village plagued by civil unrest and a deadly water crisis. When the couple ventures past the hotel gates that protect them, they awaken the sleeping giant of fate. Smith has written the screenplay adaptation. The short story source material was published in The New Yorker in December of 2006 and can be read at THIS LINK.

Mynette Louie is producing the film for The Population while Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, and Anish Savjani do the same for filmscience. Smith serves as an executive producer alongside Jonako Donley, Feroze Alameer, Christine D’Souza Gelb, Kyle Jaeger, and Julia Nelson.

Upgrade represents the international rights on the film and will be seeking potential distributions at the American Film Market. 2AM and WME Independent co-represent the North American rights.

Does Monkey Hill sound interesting to you, and have you read the Paul Theroux story? Share your thoughts on this “sexy and seductive” Olivia Wilde, Gael García Bernal, and Sarah Adina Smith collaboration by leaving a comment below.