Nadine Labaki-Starrer ‘The Sand Castle’ Featuring ‘Capernaum’ Co-Stars Boarded by Netflix (EXCLUSIVE)
by Nick Vivarelli · VarietyNetflix has officially boarded “The Sand Castle” that sees Lebanese multi-hyphenate Nadine Labaki reunite on screen with “Capernaum” siblings Zain and Reman Al Rafeea.
The streaming giant has set a Jan. 25, 2025, global drop date for the hotly anticipated thriller.
U.S. director Matty Brown — whose shorts have won accolades — makes his feature film debut with “The Sand Castle” which is the tale of an Arabic family of four stuck on a seemingly idyllic island. There, the family begins to uncover dark secrets that they struggle to keep from their youngest, Jana.
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“As events spiral out of control and the line between reality and fiction blurs, the family is forced to confront harsh truths and difficult choices, testing their resilience and their hopes of making it back home,” says the provided synopsis.
The film’s ensemble cast also features Palestinian actor Ziad Bakri (“Meet the Barbarians”).
Brown co-wrote “Sand Castle” with Jordan’s Yassmina Kharajah and Egyptian-Qatari writer-director Hend Fakhroo. The film is likely to launch from Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Red Sea Film Festival.
Gianluca Chakra’s Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Mario Jr. Haddad’s Empire Entertainment produced “Sand Castle” in collaboration with Houston King’s HK Films and Mandy Ward’s Akward Productions with Mayada Hiraki serving as executive producer.
The top notch “Sand Castle” below-the-line team comprises cinematographer Jeremy Snell (Netflix’s “Dirty Money”); Oscar-winning sound designer Martin Hernandez (“The Revenant”); editor Nacho Ruiz Capillas (“The Others,” “Loving Pablo”); and original music composers West Dylan Thordson and Kat Vokes who penned the score for M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” among other titles.
Front Row and Empire’s first production was the Arabic adaptation of Italian hit concept comedy “Perfect Strangers” which did really well after launching as Netflix original on the streamer in January 2022.