EXCLUSIVE: Stefon Bristol is set to direct Breathe, a sci-fi thriller that is set up at Thunder Road Films. Basil Iwanyk and Brendon Boyea of Thunder Road are producing with Will Flynn serving as executive producer.
Bristol, who earned an Independent Spirit Award for his first feature See You Yesterday, is directing the pic from a 2019 Black List screenplay by Doug Simon. Set in the near future where air supply is scarce, the plot follows a mother and daughter who are forced to fight for their survival when two strangers arrive desperate for an oxygenated haven.
“I am an artist who loves to make personal sci-fi movies about Black characters that are laced with social, political commentary and interpersonal wisdom,” said Bristol. “Breathe will definitely encompass all of that. But, in the same vein, it’s going to be one of those movies that will manhandle your attention, attempt to rip your heart out of your chest, make you pray that these characters come out alive! It’s going to be legit. Straight up!”
Bristol, a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, adapted See You Yesterday from his 17-minute student thesis. The pic was produced by his mentor and fellow New York native Spike Lee. It premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival before streaming on Netflix globally. Bristol is repped by ICM Partners, Ellipsis Entertainment Group and Romola Lucas.
Simon is repped by Verve, Writ Large, and Morris Yorn.
Thunder Road’s upcoming release slate includes Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised, Ric Waugh’s disaster epic Greenland, starring Gerard Butler, Tarik Saleh’s black-ops thriller Violence of Actions with Chris Pine, and Neil Burger’s sci-fi thriller Voyagers starring Colin Farrell.
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