Sundance News: Netflix Acquires Rights to Grant Sputore’s Sci-Fi Thriller “I AM MOTHER”

On January 25, 2019, Grant Sputore’s I AM MOTHER had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival at the Eccles Theater in Park City, UT. On average, the film garnered favorable reviews noting Hilary Swank’s (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) commanding presence and the visual effects.

In Grant Sputore’s feature film debut, a robot named Mother commences her protocol in a high-tech bunker below earth’s surface shortly after humanity’s extinction. Per the film’s official synopsis (Sundance): Designed to repopulate the earth with humans born from test-tube embryos, Mother raises a baby girl to become an intelligent, compassionate teenager (Clara Rugaard). But the arrival of a wounded woman (Hilary Swank) at the bunker door soon casts doubt on Mother’s account of the earth’s fate and threatens the unique bond between Mother and her “daughter.”

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Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Several entries of this year’s Sundance film festival have already found homes at networks and streaming services. Netflix, which recently acquired Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, will add another to its streaming service. Netflix has officially nabbed the North American rights to I Am Mother out of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival after previously locking several international territories. The film is set to release later this year and promises to bring Michael Lloyd Green’s script to life in this dazzling and smart “man vs. machine” character study.

I AM MOTHER film details:

Director: Grant Sputore in his feature film debut

Screenwriter: Michael Lloyd Green, based on a story by Grant Sputore and Michael Lloyd Green

Cast: Two-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t CryMillion Dollar Baby), up-and-comer Clara Rugaard (Teen SpiritGood Favour), Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Rose Byrne (Instant FamilyX-Men: Apocalypse)

Producers: Kelvin Munro for The Penguin Empire, Timothy White for Southern Light Films

Executive Producers:  Paris Kasidokostas Latsis, Terry Dougas and Jean-Luc De Fanti for Rhea Films, Bryce Menzies, Grant Sputore, Philip Wade, John Wade 

Co-producers: Anna Vincent and Michael Lloyd Green

LoglineI AM MOTHER is a sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl (Rugaard), who is the first of a new generation of humans to be raised by Mother (Byrne), a robot designed to repopulate the earth after the extinction of humankind. But the pair’s unique relationship is threatened when an injured stranger (Swank) arrives with news that calls into question everything Daughter has been told about the outside world and her Mother’s intentions.

The robot depicted is created by the special effects team at WETA Workshop (Lord of the RingsAvatar).

Screen Australia, South Australian Film Corporation, Screenwest and Adelaide Film Festival present in association with Rhea Films and Hercules Film Fund produced in association with Southern Light Alliance a Penguin Empire and Southern Light Films production

Endeavor Content handled the sale on behalf of the filmmakers.

Hilary Swank, Grant Sputore, and Clara Rugaard at an event for The IMDb Studio at Sundance (2015)
Courtesy of GettyImages.com

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