Catapulting Tom Hanks back into audience’s hearts with his compulsive and gripping true story thriller Captain Phillips, director Billy Ray looks poised to do the same for Julia Roberts in The Secret In Their Eyes. A remake of Juan Jose Campanella’s Oscar-winning Spanish language feature, the Americanized version boasts a sterling cast that reeks of awards pedigree; Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Dean Norris and Michael Kelly all star alongside Roberts.
Ray will adopt a similar strategy to his previously adapted works Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games and State Of Play by returning to the source material for inspiration. As a result, this U.S. version won’t be a direct copy of Campanella’s movie, but instead re-appropriate the subject for North American audiences. That being said, there are similarities – understandably – between the two.
Currently in production, The Secret In Their Eyes is scheduled for release on October 23rd, 2015. Before then, check out the first official still from the movie featuring Roberts and Eliofor and uncover some of the differences this remake has in store via the official synopsis below.
A tight-knit team of rising FBI investigators – Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts), along with their District Attorney supervisor Claire (Nicole Kidman) – is suddenly torn apart when they discover that Jess’s teenage daughter has been brutally and inexplicably murdered.
Now, thirteen years later, after obsessively searching every day for the elusive killer, Ray finally uncovers a new lead that he’s certain can permanently resolve the case, nail the vicious murderer, and bring long-desired closure to his team. No one is prepared, however, for the shocking, unspeakable secret that will reveal the enduring, destructive effects of personal vengeance on the human soul.
Interweaving past and present, this deeply layered mystery explores the murky boundaries between justice and revenge, and asks the question: how far would you go to right an unfathomable wrong?