Blackbird, Scottish playwright David Harrower’s Olivier Award-winning play currently running at Broadway's Belasco Theatre, has been adapted for the screen under the title Una (the name of the female leading character).
The Broadway cast features Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams, but the film will star Ben Mendelsohn and Rooney Mara.
Like the play, the movie tells the story of how Una, now in her late 20s, tracks down the older man who sexually abused her when she was 12. From there on out, the story is full of surprises.
Deadline.com quoted co-producer Jean Doumanian as saying that Una has finished shooting and is seeking a premiere at a film festival. A general release for Una in the U.S. and Britain is scheduled for later this year.
Una will be the first movie assignment for Australian stage director Benedict Andrews. In addition to extensive work in his homeland and in Great Britain, he staged Jean Genet's The Maids with Cate Blanchett as part of the 2014 Lincoln Center Festival, and his production of A Streetcar Named Desire is scheduled to open Off-Broadway starting April 23 at St Ann's Warehouse.
The movie also features Tara Fitzgerald and Riz Ahmed.