EXCLUSIVE: Following the worldwide success of F1, Apple and Damson Idris have found their next high profile project team up on as sources tell Deadline Apple Original Films is coming on to develop Sacrament, a new feature with Jonathan Levine attached to direct, and Damson Idris attached to produce. Insiders add the film is still in early development though the plan is to develop the film as a starring vehicle for the F1 star. The project will hail from Apple Studios and Chernin Entertainment will produce via their first-look feature deal with Apple.
Written by Enzo Mileti & Scott Wilson, the film follows two former Chicago cops turned contractors who track a runaway thief to a remote and fortified township in Sacrament, Utah. What begins as a routine job escalates into a battle where they are outnumbered, outgunned, and forced to become better partners.
Peter Chernin and David Ready will produce for Chernin Entertainment. Idris will produce under his Keep Quiet Productions banner, and Levine will produce alongside Gillian Bohrer through their company MegaMix.
Following the success of F1: The Movie, which not only went on to making $634 million worldwide but also received multiple Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Idris and Apple were looking for that next thing to team up on. It was Chernin that approached him with the script, which Idris was immediately interested in with Levine boarding the project soon after.
Idris is currently filming the the Miles Davis pic Miles & Juliette from director Bill Pohlad and also has the Netflix series The Lords’ Day, which he also exec produced.
As for Levine, the director has become a very sought after individual with buzz growing on his upcoming sports drama Mr. Irrelevant, which bows this Christmas. That buzz was so loud that Tom Cruise asked to see the film and was so impressed, he tapped the director to helm his sequel to the hit Paramount sports pic Days of Thunder.
The project marks the latest feature development for Apple and Chernin Entertainment, joining titles including One Month Mark, Last Flight Out” and “Five Secrets. Chernin Entertainment has also produced multiple projects for Apple TV, including the acclaimed epic Chief of War starring Jason Momoa, Emmy Award-nominated See starring Jason Momoa, NAACP Award-winning Truth Be Told starring Octavia Spencer and Gabrielle Union, and Emmy Award-winning documentary series The War for Football.
Idris is repped by CAA, M88 and attorney John Meigs and Levine is repped by Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.