Netflix Takes U.S. Rights To Pablo Larraín’s ‘Maria’ Starring Angelina Jolie

Netflix has snapped up U.S. rights to Maria, the biopic of opera singer Maria Callas, teaming filmmaker Pablo Larraín (Spencer) and Angelina Jolie, which is premiering at the Venice Film Festival on August 29.

This is Netflix’s second film with Larraín directing following last year’s El Conde, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. The project marks the seventh production partnership between Netflix and the filmmaker’s banner Fabula, including Maite Alberdi’s upcoming film In Her Place.

A creative imagining and a psychological portrait of Maria Callas, Maria takes place in the ’70s near the end of Callas’ life. It’s a story about a woman that lived from the ’20s to ’70s, a woman who burned her voice, her life, by doing (what she loved) her work.

Maria Callas was famous for her incredible voice –—the film looks at a period in her life when she had lost her voice and tries to regain it. It’s about someone who, after dedicating her life to audiences around the world that would listen to her, decides to finally find her own voice, her own identity, and finally do something for herself.

Academy Award nominee Steven Knight (Spencer) wrote the script, with Juan de Dios Larraín, Lorenzo Mieli and Jonas Dornbach producing. The project hails from The Apartment, a Fremantle Company, as well as Fabula, Komplizen and Fremantle. Others in the cast include Academy Award nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino and Valeria Golino.

Stated Larraín, “I’m excited to partner again with the Netflix team who care so passionately about movies. This film is my most personal work yet. It is a creative imagining and psychological portrait of Maria Callas who, after dedicating her life to performing for audiences around the world, decides finally to find her own voice, her own identity, and sing for herself. I’m deeply honored to tell this story and share it with audiences worldwide like Maria did with her life.”

Added Netflix’s Chairman of Film Dan Lin on the acquisition, “I’m excited that we are continuing to work with Pablo and Fabula – this is our seventh project with them, most recently with El Conde and they are producing the upcoming In Her Place. Pablo continues a remarkable streak of exploring iconic women through film, this time with the incredible Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas.”

Andrea Scrosati, Group COO & CEO Continental Europe, Fremantle, commented, “We are delighted that Pablo Larraín’s extraordinary piece of filmmaking, Maria, with its incredible performance by Angelina Jolie, has found its US home at Netflix. I know they will give it the best possible support and we are grateful to Glen and his FilmNation team for spearheading the sale.”