Laura Linney, Woody Harrelson and rising actress Nico Parker are set to star in Suncoast, a drama written and set to be directed by Laura Chinn, in what will be her directorial debut.
Searchlight has boarded the project, which made the 2020 Black List, with production scheduled to begin in September.
Jeremy Plager, Francesca Silvestri, Kevin Chinoy and Oly Obst are producing the feature.
Suncoast is inspired by Chinn’s own life experience from the early 2000s and follows a teenager (Parker) living with her strong-willed mother (Linney), who must take her brother to live at a specialized facility. There, she strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist (Harrelson) amidst protests surrounding controversial medical cases.
The project will be overseen by Searchlight senior vp production Taylor Friedman and manager of creative affairs Daniel Yu, reporting to heads of production and development, DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas.
Harrelson most recently starred in Triangle of Sadness, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d’Or. He also starred opposite Kevin Hart in action movie The Man From Toronto and played Spider-Man villain Carnage in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Harrelson has been nominated for an Oscar three times, including for his work in Searchlight’s 2017 drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, as well as The Messenger and The People vs. Larry Flynt.
Linney most recently starred in Netflix’s acclaimed crime drama Ozark alongside Jason Bateman, garnering four Emmy nominations for her work. Linney has earned three Academy Award nominations for her roles in The Savages and Kinsey, both from Searchlight Pictures, and for Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me.
Parker made her screen debut alongside Colin Farrell and Michael Keaton in Dumbo, which was directed by Tim Burton. She was recently seen on HBO Max’s sci-fi thriller Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton and will be seen in HBO’s adaptation of video game phenomenon The Last of Us.
Chinn is an actress-turned-screenwriter best known for creating the Pop TV comedy Florida Girls. She recently added author to her ever-growing résumé, with Hachette publishing her memoir, titled Acne, in July to rave reviews.
Harrelson is repped by Seven Deuce Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham, while Linney is repped by CAA, Lighthouse Media & Management and Yorn Levine. Parker is repped by WME and Curtis Brown Group. Chinn is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, Range Media and Hansen Jacobson.
