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Angelina Jolie is directing a movie for Netflix. The Oscar-winning actor will helm an adaptation of “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers”, a memoir by Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung about her struggles under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Jolie is the latest high-profile star to develop a film or TV show exclusively for Netflix. The movie and TV streaming service is sinking large sums of money into its Netflix Original movies and programmes to distinguish it from rivals, and has recruited big names including Kevin Spacey, David Fincher, Tina Fey and the Wachowskis to do so.
Shows such as “House of Cards”, “Orange is the New Black” and “Daredevil” have been money-spinning hits, and there’s loads more to come: actor Adam Sandler is set to produce four movies for the service, comedian Chelsea Handler has a talk show in the works, and “Daredevil” is the first of four TV shows adapted from Marvel comics.
“Films like this are hard to watch but important to see,” Jolie said of the movie she’s directing. “They are also hard to get made. Netflix is making this possible, and I am looking forward to working with them and excited that the film will reach so many people.”
Netflix’s rivals are also betting on original content: Amazon scored a hit with “Transparent” and regularly holds pilot seasons where viewers can vote for which shows they want to see produced. Spike Lee will direct Amazon’s first feature film, and Woody Allen is set to make his first TV show for the service.
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Jolie has co-written the script for “First They Killed My Father” with Ung. The film will be filmed in Cambodia later this year and will be released in both Khmer and English in 2016.
Ung was 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia in 1975 and was forced to become a child soldier. During the Khmer Rouge’s four-year reign of terror, nearly 2 million Cambodians died. Published in 2000, “First They Killed My Father” is her memoir.
Oscar-nominated Cambodian director and producer Rithy Pahn will produce. And Jolie’s Cambodian-born adopted son, Maddox, will also be involved in the production of the film, but his role hasn’t been specified.
The film will be available to all Netflix subscribers in late 2016.
