Xavier Samuel, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill are attached to star in Midnight in Byzantium, a mystery/adventure about a young guy who is trapped in a remote town where nothing – and no one – is as it seems.
The film will mark the feature debut of Melbourne-based writer-director Cris Jones, who has directed numerous short films, music videos and TVCs. The producers are Optimism Films’ Melanie Coombs, Alicia Brown and Mish Armstrong.
The project has received development funding from Screen Australia and a travel grant which enabled Jones to attend this year’s Binger Filmlab Directors Lab in Amsterdam.
Also attached is Jacek Koman, whose credits include Top of the Lake, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Spirited and Julius Avery’s upcoming movie Son of a Gun, which stars Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander and Brenton Thwaites.
The synopsis reads: “A young man wakes up in a small, country town called Byzantium with no memory of who he is or how he got there. According to the local townsfolk, his name is Mitchell Isaacs and his amnesia is the result of a recent car accident. Mitchell soon begins to suspect that there is something very wrong with Byzantium and that his life may be in danger. Now he must attempt to unravel the mystery of his past in order to escape before it’s too late.”
Pinnacle Films is aboard as the Australian/New Zealand distributor.
Jones graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2003. His short films including The Funk, Excursion and The Heisenberg Principle have screened at more than 120 festivals.