Rebel Wilson Makes A Splash In Cannes Announcing Her Feature Film Directing Debut ’The Deb’ Will Shoot Down Under In September
24.05.2023 - 18:07
/ deadline.com
Rebel Wilson is set to direct her first feature, The Deb, a musical set in Australia “that brings the bush into the city.”
The Deb was written by Hannah Reilly and Meg Washington based on a stage show that Wilson championed when it premiered at Sydney’s Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) in 2022. Wilson revealed that she also will co-star in the film and told us that two songs not used in the stage production will be featured in the film.
Amanda Ghost, Len Blavatnik and Gregor Cameron are producing through their company Unigram (Tetris) and sister company AI Film (I, Tonya, Hacksaw Ridge).
Shooting on locations in Sydney and rural New South Wales starting in September, The Deb will be produced in partnership with Wilson’s Camp Sugar Productions (Senior Year, The Hustle) and award-winning Australian producer Bunya Productions (The Drover’s Wife, Mystery Road). Danny Cohen executive produces on behalf of Access Entertainment.
“Basically, it came out of my scholarship program at ATYP, which is where I learned to act and put on my first show,” Wilson told us in Cannes today.
She first listened to The Deb’s score three years ago, before it was staged at the ATYP’s Rebel Theatre — named in her honor. ”I said then that I think this is a film, and after we premiered it last year I said, ”We’ve got to make this into a movie.’ Not all projects in Australia have universal appeal, but this one does.”
She added that The Deb has the kind of appeal of Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The Deb, Wilson explained, tells the tale of two young women from different cultures. One’s from the bush and the other’s a cynical city girl. Both are searching for self-acceptance — and a date to the Deb.
Taylah Simpkins,