EXCLUSIVE: Melissa Barrera (Scream VI) is set to lead In the Cradle of Granite, a new Western thriller marking the English-language debut of Ariel Escalante (Domingo and the Mist).
Based on an original screenplay by Jay Holmes, the film is set in the brutal American west of the late 1800s, where a young mother (Barrera) struggles to provide for her family after her husband dies and the local town folk won’t do business with her. But when she finds the body of a notorious wanted outlaw on her homestead, she strikes a deal with the bounty hunter who killed him — setting out across the dangerous frontier in hopes of a big reward and a better future.
Producing the picture are Joel David Moore, Rishi Bajaj and Daniel Taborga of Balcony 9 Productions (upcoming Bride Hard, Immaculate Room), Jonathan Sadowski and Daniel Pancotto of Ad Lunam Ent, and Gregory Thomas. Chase Hinton, Lynette Gurule-Thomas and Michael Thomas are serving as executive producers.
Last week seeing Vertical release her horror rom-com Your Monster, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Barrera told Deadline, “Ariel is a beautifully poetic filmmaker and I am honored to join him in his English language debut. We are both very intentional in the narratives we choose to tell and seek to entertain while giving life to characters and situations that serve as a mirror for society. Jay Holmes’ script is thrilling and hypnotizing and I can’t wait to bring it to the big screen along with the teams at Ad Lunam and Balcony 9.”
Stated Escalante, “I find Jay Holmes’ script to be the perfect opportunity to bring my directorial vision to the United States. And working alongside such a strong and amazing actress like Melissa Barrera only fuels my desire to turn this into both an exciting contemporary take on the western genre and a bold reflection on colonial violence.”
Also recently seen in Scream VI and Universal Pictures’ monster movie Abigail, Barrera’s other upcoming projects include Kwame Kwei-Armah’s drama The Collaboration, on the friendship between artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and a new Peacock thriller series teaming James Wan and Simu Liu.
A Costa Rican filmmaker coming off of the Cannes-premiering drama Domingo and the Mist, Escalante prior to that helmed 2016 indie drama The Sound of Things.
Barrera is repped by Sugar23, WME and Gang, Tyre, Ramer; Escalante by Vision Entertainment.
