EXCLUSIVE: Ron Perlman and Rupert Everett have signed to co-star in Thomas Michael’s upcoming romantic dramedy Out Late revolving around the unlikely romance between a macho, blue-collar Italian widower and a retired dancer.
Paris and L.A.-based WTFilms will launch sales on the film at Cannes.
Michael will direct from a screenplay co-written with Paolo Mancini. The feature reunites the writing team with Perlman, who starred in their 2022 action thriller The Baker alongside Harvey Keitel.
Perlman will play recent widower Angelo who is forced to confront a deeply hidden personal truth when he meets and strikes up an unlikely friendship with openly gay dancer Edmond. Though he’s never had the courage to admit it to himself, let alone his family, church and community, Angelo is gay.
When Angelo’s adult children and friends start to suspect he is dating a man, they do everything they can to shove him back into the closet. Navigating the fears and prejudices of everyone around him, Angelo must choose between fitting in and finally being true to himself. Better out late than never.
“Romcoms are back in force. What a gift to have Rupert Everett returning to that genre after the classic My Best Friend’s Wedding. This is a funny and touching script about finding your truth and growing older that will appeal to a wider audience just like Beginners or Supernova. Thomas is a masterful filmmaker who has assembled a duo that will surprise and delight”, says Gregory Chambet of WTFilms.
“This script is a deeply personal story and I’m thrilled to have the incredible talents of Ron Perlman and Rupert Everett. They are the cast of my dreams and I cannot wait to share this journey with them”, says Michael.
Production is scheduled to begin late summer in Montreal with Barbara Shrier (The Red Violin, The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, Brain Freeze) producing through her company Palomar, with Michael also serving as producer and Perlman serving as executive producer.
“Support for this film had been overwhelming. We are grateful to be part of such a vibrant filmmaking community here in Quebec” says Barbara Shrier.
Perlman will next be seen opposite Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in the Doug Liman feature The Instigators for Apple. He can currently be seen in The Retirement Plan opposite Nicolas Cage and Thug opposite Liam Neeson.
Additionally, he can also be seen in the reboot of Mr. And Mrs. Smith for Amazon. Prior to this, he starred in the latest iteration of the Transformers franchise Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts for Paramount as well as the Academy Award winning film Pinocchio directed by Guillermo del Toro and the acclaimed series Poker Face for Peacock.
Rupert Everett won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance as Julia Robert’s ‘plus one’ in 1998 feature My Best Friend’s Wedding. More recent credits include his 2018 directorial debut The Happy Prince, in which he also starred, and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.
Perlman is repped by Gersh and LINK Entertainment. Everett is repped by CAA and The Artist Partnership. Michael is repped by Jon Levin and attorney, Jamie Feldman.
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