Fox Searchlight Pictures President of Production Claudia Lewis announced that principal photography has started in Savannah and on Tybee Island, GA on the drama “Gifted, starring Chris Evans (“Captain America,” “Snowpiercer”), Tony Award winner Lindsay Duncan (“Birdman,” “Le Weekend”), Mckenna Grace (“Independence Day: Resurgence”), Jenny Slate (“Obvious Child,” “Parks and Recreation”) and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer (“The Help,” “Insurgent”). Marc Webb (“(500) Days of Summer,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”) directs from an original screenplay by Tom Flynn. Karen Lunder and Andy Cohen are producing.
“I’m incredibly excited to begin principal photography on ‘Gifted.’ I’m psyched to be working with this awesome cast that has come on board to make this beautiful film with me. Chris Evans, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer and Mckenna Grace are a wonderful rich ensemble that is both hilarious and sincere. Tom Flynn’s sensitive and thoughtful script strikes the heart in a way that felt very personal. Plus it is great to be back with Searchlight again,” says Webb.
“Marc is well-loved at Searchlight and we’re thrilled to have him back, along with Chris Evans and the rest of the extraordinary cast. We’re convinced that this uniquely funny and emotional film will touch all those who care about family and finding one’s place in the world,” says Lewis.
“It is a rare thing in this business to fall in love with a script and actually get to make it. When Marc Webb came on to direct Tom Flynn’s incredibly moving screenplay we knew we had the makings of a special film. Augmented by the caliber of the cast Marc has assembled and the incomparable support from the team at Fox Searchlight, we couldn’t be more thrilled,” say Lunder and Cohen.
Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man raising a child prodigy – his spirited young niece Mary (Mckenna Grace) – in a coastal town in Florida. Frank’s plans for a normal school life for Mary are foiled when the seven-year-old’s mathematical abilities come to the attention of Frank’s formidable mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary. Octavia Spencer plays Roberta, Frank and Mary’s landlady and best friend. Jenny Slate is Mary’s teacher, Bonnie, a young woman whose concern for her student develops into a connection with her uncle as well.
Executive Vice President of Production David Greenbaum and Director of Production Taylor Freidman are overseeing the project for Fox Searchlight Pictures. The director of photography is Stuart Dryburgh (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass”), the production designer is Laura Fox (“(500) Days of Summer,” “Paradise”), the costume designer is Abby O’Sullivan (“Frozen River,” “Empire State”), the casting director is David Rubin (“Wild,” “Gravity,” “Lars and the Real Girl”) and the editor is Bill Pankow (“Carlito’s Way,” “American Ultra”). The executive producers are Molly Allen, Glen Basner and Ben Browning.
