Daisy Ridley instantly became a big name when she was cast as the lead for THE FORCE AWAKENS, and then graduated to legitimate movie star when we finally saw her work as Rey last December. Inevitably, now everybody wants her, including the producers of the TOMB RAIDER reboot, but it looks like her first major post-SW gig will be another show for J.J. Abrams.
Abrams will only produce, not direct, KOLMA, a fantasy story about an old woman whose life was forever changed by a car crash that killed the man she loved. On her deathbed, she must choose between proceeding to the afterlife and reuniting with her lost lover or reliving the last 50 years all over again. Actress/director Marielle Heller (DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL) is in negotiations to direct. Ridley would obviously play the young lady, possibly utilizing makeup to convey her character’s aging instead of recasting as she gets older.
Ridley somehow seemed like a fresh, exciting young talent, which is always what producers say about newcomers but is so very rarely actually true. Her Rey, despite whether or not you think she was a “Mary Sue,” was a tough, strong, likable character who you were engaged with despite knowing quite little about her backstory or her impending role in the saga (at least initially). Unlike what some folks say about Leia, playing Rey required actual acting, and it’s completely reasonable to give Ridley the headlining position on this $60-70 million-budgeted project. She’s going to have to stretch her acting muscles to make her 24-year-old body feel like its inhabiting a 72-year-old soul, and the fact that J.J. is there as a producer is surely a confidence booster and a reassurance that she’s in good hands.
This kind of fantasy romance is tricky to pull off, particularly with modern, cynical audiences (see: THE AGE OF ADALINE), but hopefully, this one will be both an engaging, exciting story and a showcase for the young Ms. Ridley’s skills as a thespian.
How many portions you think she can score for this one?
