New Boy First Look: Cate Blanchett is a nun with a secret

Cate Blanchett used to be in her next role after “THE LIBRARY”.

The Oscar-winning actress leads Warwick Thornton’s latest film, The New Boy, which will debut in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2023.

Set in 1940s Australia, according to the official synopsis, “New Boy” is the story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy (Aswan Reid) who arrives in the dead of night at a remote convent run by a renegade nun (Blanhett), where her presence disrupts the delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.

Also starring Mezi Atwood, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Kenneth Radley.

Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Scarlett Pictures teamed up to co-produce “The New Boy,” with Roadshow Films distributing in Australia and New Zealand and CAA Media Finance and UTA in North America. Veterans on board to handle other international sales.

New Boy was filmed in South Australia with funding from Screen Australia’s First Nations Department, which focuses on the lives of the country’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Writer-director Thornton marks his second Cannes appearance with “The New Boy,” following 2009’s “Samson & Delilah,” which won the Camera d’Or for first-time directors. He also directed the film “Sweet Country”, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and the Platform Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. “Sweet Country” and “Samson and Delilah” also won the AACTA award for best film. from the Australian Academy of Film and Television Arts.

“Warwick Thornton is one of Australia’s most celebrated filmmakers and has returned to Cannes for Un Certain Regard with his extremely exciting film,” Roadshow Films CEO Joel Pearlman said in a press statement. “This unique Australian film has captivated audiences around the world and Roadshow Films is very proud to present the film to Australian audiences.”

“New Boy” is Blanchett’s first film since her Oscar nomination for Todd Field’s “LIBRARY.” Blanchett will next star in Eli Roth’s “Borderlands,” based on the video game franchise of the same name. Blanchett is also attached to a limited series about a TV documentary journalist, “Disclaimer,” written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón based on the 2015 novel by Renée Knight. Sacha Baron Cohen, Lesley Manville, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Hoyeon are confirmed to star.

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