Highland Film Group has announced that Pierce Brosnan has signed on to star in writer/director Brett Marty’s feature-film adaptation of Youth, a short film he directed and co-wrote in 2016. The sci-fi thriller is co-written by Marty, Josh Izenberg, and Amelia Whitcomb. Jib Polhemus, Paul Schiff and Martin Brennan will produce alongside Executive Producers Laura Bickford and Hannah Leader, and Co-Producer Joshua Izenberg. Highland Film Group is handling the international rights, with CAA Media Finance handling domestic. Sales will launch at next month’s Marché du Film Online.
In a future not far from now, “Renewal” has become the world’s hottest (and most expensive) commodity — a procedure to rewind your body’s biological clock back to its prime. Joel (Brosnan), an ad-tech engineer, is about to retire at age 70, after a lengthy career. Not wanting to lose him, his company pays for him and his wife Alice to Renew — a luxury promising a second chance. Alice emerges from the operation in her 20s, but for Joel, the procedure goes tragically wrong. Rather than make him younger, his aging begins accelerating rapidly, and his remaining years evaporate into mere weeks. Trapped in a decaying body, and watching his 45-year marriage disintegrate, Joel becomes desperate enough to force another, more dangerous procedure. Uncovering the dark origins of the technology along the way, Joel must somehow stay alive long enough to reveal to the world what is happening, before it is too late.
Brosnan is a Golden Globe nominated actor known for roles including The Tailor of Panama, The Matador, The Ghost Writer, The Thomas Crown Affair and most recently, Mamma Mia!, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and The Foreigner, among others. He also starred in the AMC Networks series “The Son” for two seasons and will next be seen in the Netflix film Eurovision, A24’s False Positive, Columbia Pictures’ Cinderella and Renny Harlin’s The Misfits.
Marty is making his feature-film debut with Youth, following the success of the short film by the same name. He has directed short films including Albatross (2010), Youth (2016), and The Fiddler (2017), winning jury awards and playing at more than 100 film festivals, including Cannes.
Brosnan is represented by CAA, Curtis Brown, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman and Viewpoint. Marty is represented by Source | Management + Production.
