Cannes: Susan Sarandon to Star in John Krokidas’ ‘Tunnels,’ Highland to Sell Pic

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Susan Sarandon is to star in ’ debut feature “Tunnels,” which Highland Film Group is selling in Cannes.

The film is set in the wake of a school shooting, when an unlikely friendship develops between Ruby Love (Sarandon), the grandmother who raised the shooter, and Grayson Mitchell, the teenage brother of one of the victims, when paired to work together at the local supermarket.

The screenplay is written by Victoria Rose. Colin Bates and Michael Jefferson will produce for Lucidity Entertainment with Ethan Terra and Cindy Bru serving as executive producers. Circle of Confusion’s Matt Smith (“Maleficent”) and Brad Mendelsohn (“Rim of the World”) will produce along with Circle of Confusion’s Frank Frattaroli, who will executive produce.

Highland describes it as “an inspiring and surprisingly funny story of two outsiders helping each other to find hope in a town still too stuck in its recent history to see the potential of something beautiful on the horizon.”

Among its Cannes slate, Highland will be selling Vaughn Stein’s “Inheritance,” starring Lily Collins and Simon Pegg; Dimitri Logothetis’ “Jiu Jitsu,” starring Nicolas Cage; and Marc Meyer’s thriller “We Summon the Darkness,” starring Alexandra Daddario.

Sarandon is represented UTA, and Krokidas is represented by UTA and Circle of Confusion.