Oscar nominees Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby have been set to star in the lead roles of the survival thriller "Suddenly".

The film will be directed by Thomas Bidegain, who wrote the triple-whammy of A Prophet, the terrific Rust And Bone and Dheepan, which won the Palme d'Or in 2015. Bidegain has worked with Gyllenhaal before on 2018's underrated Western The Sisters Brothers, and this will be his second film as a director following 2015's Les Cowboys.

"Suddenly" is based on Isabelle Autissier’s French-language novel "Soudain Seuls", which follows a couple who become stranded on an island in the South Atlantic and must fight for survival when their dream journey becomes a nightmare. The novel shines a light on their relationship’s dynamics and holds a mirror up to modern society.

Gyllenhaal has the upcoming thrillers "The Guilty", directed by Antoine Fuqua, and "Ambulance", directed by Michael Bay, on the way, and Kirby is coming off her Oscar-nominated performance for "Pieces Of A Woman" and the recently-debuted Tribeca indie "Italian Studies".

Writer-director Thomas Bidegain commented: "With Suddenly, I wanted to analyse the deep dynamics of a relationship stripped of all the artifices of the modern world, when facing life and death situations in a wondrous but hostile environment. Jake and Vanessa are a dream pairing who elevate the film to an entirely new dimension and are dream partners for making the film, along with our friends at Studiocanal."

Source: Press Release