EXCLUSIVE: Shailene Woodley has signed to star with Robert De Niro and Shia LaBeouf in After Exile, the Joshua Michael Stern-directed drama. Anthony Thorne and Michael Tovo wrote the script, and the latter wrote the story, based on true events from his life.
The film is being produced by Anthony Thorne and Steve Snyder of Pacific Shore Films, which is financing.
After Exile is the story of Mike Delaney (LaBeouf) who, after being released from prison for killing an innocent man after a violent robbery, must re-enter his old life where he and his ex-criminal father (De Niro) attempt to save his younger brother from a dead end future of drugs and crime. The drama is about the difficult trajectory toward forgiveness and redemption. De Niro will play Ted Delaney, an ex-con who lost his wife years ago and now suffers from alcoholism and guilt. All he has left is the instinct to save his two sons from the dark and destructive paths they are on.
Woodley will play Dana, a woman who grew up with Mike Delaney (LaBeouf) and whose troubled relationship with him leads to a life of drugs and depression. Once Mike is released from prison, Dana tries to rekindle their relationship, moving in with Mike and his father (De Niro), and hoping she can walk away from the life she regrets living.
Filming will begin November in Philadelphia, and Les Cohen is exec producer.
Woodley, who last starred in Adrift and wrapped the Drake Doremus-directed Endings, Beginnings that premieres in Toronto next month, is repped by Hyperion, Management 360, and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.
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