Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the survivalist thriller The Calm Beyond directed by the late, great Joshua Wong and starring Kara Wang (Top Gun: Maverick, Amazon Prime Video’s Goliath, Freeform’s Good Trouble).
‘The Calm Beyond’ actress Kara Wang and late, great director Joshua Wong
The film marked the directorial debut of Wong tragically lost his battle with cancer in December 2020. The Calm Beyond premiered in competition at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival. Wong directed from a story written by himself and Heather Gornall, who wrote the script. Wong added about the film before his passing that “while being a survival film at its core, it’s really about living with trauma and picking up the pieces of a broken life. How do you live after the storms of your life have hit?”
Wang stars as Asha, one of the few survivors living in Hong Kong after climate change has devastated the city and left it a dark and dangerous place. Wong said that Wang “poured everything into this film, which results in an incredibly intimate and raw character that I’m sure will touch people in a very personal way. She is an absolutely spectacular actress and I couldn’t imagine a better performance for the role.”
“Josh was someone who always celebrated life,” said Wang. “He celebrated the wins, no moment too small. He was so incredibly thoughtful and always had a smile on his face. This is the energy he brought to set. The lightness he brought pulled me out of the places of darkness I had to go to for Asha. Trauma, guilt, and grief are just some of the universal emotions that run through The Calm Beyond. Josh was so incredibly open with sharing his story to help me understand his vision. He was one of the bravest people I knew.”
Executive Producers Gavin Lurie and Najeeb Khuda from Endless Media added, “It has left all of us who knew Joshua heartbroken, not only about losing one of the most authentic, kind and collaborative people we have ever met, but also that the world loses an artist who was just beginning to show the world what he was capable of. We are thrilled the world will get to see the brilliance that lay in the heart and mind of Joshua Wong, with this beautiful film that he crafted. With The Calm Beyond, we believe Joshua truly announced himself and we are so honored to be a part of this film as finding and supporting emerging and unique voices such as Joshua is exactly why we’re in this business.”
The Calm Beyond was produced by Wong and Kat Wong of Option Four Films along with executive producers Najeeb Khuda and Gavin Lurie from Endless Media.
Wang is repped by Global Artists Agency and managed by Stride Management.
The deal was negotiated by Michael Rifkin on behalf of Sony Pictures International Productions, the local-language production arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group and Gavin Lurie of Endless Media on behalf of the producers.
Check out the poster below.
