Tom Harper who is best known for directing the BBC mini-series ‘War & Peace and working on some episodes of ‘Peaky Blinders‘, has directed the upcoming film Heart of Stone. Though little has yet been known about the plot, expectations built up surrounding the movie since the first announcement and it continues to grow.
The plan of this movie first came to the public at the end of 2020 when Gal Gadot was announced to have signed as a lead star. It was also announced then that Harper will direct the film. But it was only in January of 2021 that this news was confirmed.
The distribution rights of the film got acquired by Netflix by that time. As far as is known, the film is supposed to be the very first of an upcoming franchise which will be of the same design as the Mission: Impossible franchise, the latter being an action spy thriller too.
Cast Members of Heart of Stone:
The title of the film alludes to both very opposite kinds of feeling making it an oxymoron- the softness of the heart and the hardness of stone. What makes things more complicated is that Stone hints at the lead character of the film Rachel Stone, played by Gadot.
Another very significant cast member of the film is a British actress of Indian descent Alia Bhatt, not only because she plays the primary character Keya Dhawan, but also because this is Bhatt’s Hollywood debut.
Alia Bhatt is a very successful Bollywood actress whose films such as ‘Highway’, ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Dear Zindagi’, ‘Raazi’, ‘Gully Boy, ‘And Gangubai Kathiawadi’ has obtained serious critical acclamation for her acting. She has also acted in a number of commercially successful films.
Her most recent film ‘Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva‘ has become the highest-grossing Hindi film overseas since the pandemic. In 2022 Bhatt received the TIME 100 Impact Award.
In the role of Parker, we will see Jamie Dornan in the film. Dornan is mostly recognized for the character of Christian Grey in the erotic romance trilogy of Fifty Shades. He has also acted in other acclaimed movies such as ‘Belfast’, ‘A Private War, ‘My Dinner with Hervé’, ‘Synchronic’, ‘Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and the tv series ‘Once Upon a Time, ‘The Fall’.
For last he was nominated in the category of Best Actor for the BAFTA Awards in 2014. Oh, the other hand Gadot who is mostly known as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman has acted in other films such as ‘Knight and Day, ‘Fast & Furious 6’, ‘Red Notice’, ‘Death on the Nile’, etc.
Trailer or First Look on YouTube:
YouTube released a First Look at the highly anticipated film on September 24 this year only to rise the scale of expectations related to this movie and the star casts acting in it. Every second of the trailer shows how the film will be perfectly fitting for the action thriller genre.
With glimpses of the scenes, it uses cross-overs of the main cast members talking about the film. When Dornan said that “There’s so much going on and it’s so big scale” the viewers really felt the truth of the statement from the trailer only.
Gadot has described the film as “A super grounded raw action thriller”. She has also shade some light upon her character stating “Rachel Stone lives off the adrenaline”. And Bhatt has opened up about how the characters in the film will appeal to the audience- “It has these characters that you really connect with and feel for.”
Plotline of Heart of Stone:
Not much has been revealed about the plot of the Heart of Stone. But it has been known that Rachel Stone is a CIA agent who stands between the powerful peacekeeping organization and the loss of its most valuable yet dangerous asset of it.
What the contributions of Parker and Keya Dhawan really are in the plot is yet to be discovered. Other cast members of the film are Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Jing Lusi, Paul Ready, Jon Kortajarena, etc.
The screenplay of the film has been written by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder. David Ellison, Don Granger, Bonnie Curtis, and Gadot herself serve as producers with others.
Dornan joined the cast of the film in February of 2022 with Bhatt following in March along with other members.
Filming occurred in London, United Kingdom, Reykjavík, Iceland, Lisbon, and Portugal. Primary filming began in March of 2022 and concluded in July.
The movie will release in 2023 by Netflix. The more accurate date is yet to be announced.
