Simon Rex (“Red Rocket”), Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi (“Predator: Badlands”) and Grace Palmer (“Animal Control”) are set to star in “God Bless You, Mr Kopu,” the anticipated feature debut from Tongan-New Zealand filmmaker Alex Liu (“The Red Room”).
Liu wrote the screenplay for “God Bless You, Mr Kopu” which won the MGM/Black List open script deal in 2022. Principal photography on the project begins next week in Auckland, New Zealand, and will be shown to buyers at AFM. Radiant Films International has partnered with the project for worldwide sales, while AC Independent represents North American rights. Umbrella Entertainment will handle distribution in Australia and New Zealand.
The high-brow dark comedy thriller follows Mafu (Schuster-Koloamatangi), a struggling Tongan immigrant who becomes the protégé of charismatic American salesman Marco Cass (Rex). What begins as a dream job quickly turns into a nightmare as Mafu begins to question his mentor’s methods.
Liu, whose latest short film “The Red Room” premiered at SXSW Sydney, said his “goal as a filmmaker has always been to expose audiences to Tongan stories in a way we haven’t seen before.”
“‘God Bless You, Mr. Kopu’ is a twisted adventure with a Tongan protagonist who wears his genre influence on his sleeve,” Liu continued.
Rex, meanwhile, said: “Alex is a talented filmmaker, I love the script and I can’t wait for global audiences to discover his genius. It’s going to be juicy.”
“God Bless You, Mr Kopu” is produced by Roxi Bull for Velvet Moss and Tania Chambers for Feisty Dame Productions. Executive producers are Emma Slade of Velvet Moss and Ant Timpson of Timpson Films, alongside Rex, who produces under his recently launched Crispy Productions banner. Toby Nalbandian and Gregory Schmidt of Truant Pictures, Mimi Steinbauer and AC Neel of Radiant, Ari Harrison and Jasmin McSweeney of Umbrella, Grady Habib of Sandbox and Beatriz Martins also executive produce.
The film is produced by Velvet Moss and Feisty Dame Productions in association with the New Zealand Film Commission, Screenwest and Lotterywest and Truant Pictures. Funding comes from Hinterland, Sandbox, the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate and the Western Australian Post-Production, Digital and Visual Effects Incentive.
