Voltage Pictures and Wonderland team for GUARDIAN

Emmy-winning Shauna Duggins has signed on to direct the gritty action drama, Guardian, written by Cory Byam (“The Temp Agency”), it was announced today by Voltage Pictures CEO and Academy Award winning producer Nicolas Chartier (The Hurt Locker).

The Voltage Pictures and Wonderland Sound & Vision production is produced by McG and Mary Viola alongside Voltage’s Chartier and Dominic Rustam. Steven Bello of Wonderland and Jonathan Deckter of Voltage are also executive producers of the project, alongside Duggin’s long-time collaborator Brian Machleit, who will take an active role on set.
 
In the vein of The Professional and Man on Fire, Guardian tells the multi-layered story of a top assassin who becomes the reluctant guardian for the son of the last man he killed – entangling himself in a mob power struggle and an unexpected crisis of conscience.
 
One of the top stunt coordinators in the world, Shauna Duggins became the first female stunt professional to win an Emmy in 2018 for her work on Netflix’s “GLOW”. Additional credits include HBO’s juggernaut series “Game of Thrones”, Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” starring Liev Schreiber, ABC’s “Alias” starring Jennifer Garner, the fifth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise Fast Five starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 2 starring Uma Thurman. Duggins first collaborated with Wonderland on the box office hit Charlie’s Angels starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu in 2000. Guardian will be her directorial debut.

Machleit brings a wealth of experience to any set, having served as stunt coordinator on several Academy Award-winning and box office successes such as The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Avatar, The Aviator, and Training Day.

“My partner Brian and I are excited to take our collaboration with McG to the next level on Guardian, a film that explores the unlikely bond between an assassin and the child he’s grudgingly sworn to protect through a journey jam packed with groundbreaking action and heart wrenching emotion,” said Duggins. “We couldn't be happier to be working with the prolific team of Voltage and Wonderland.”

“Shauna is an incredible artist who has been instrumental in giving some of film and television’s most popular female action heroes their kick-ass skills on screen,” said Chartier. “The time is right for her to move into the directing chair and we can think of no other filmmaker who has the action chops to deliver Guardian as the powerhouse, don’t forget to breathe rollercoaster. We’re thrilled to support her directorial debut alongside our friends at Wonderland, who share our commitment to working with female filmmakers at all stages along the production pipeline.”

“Shauna has a unique vision on both the story and the action for this film,” added McG. “We are delighted to be a part of her well-deserved ascension to the director chair.”

Voltage and Wonderland previously partnered on last year’s body positive romantic-comedy, I Feel Pretty, starring Amy Schumer which grossed $100m at the worldwide box office.

Shauna Duggins is represented by Renee Tab and Christopher Tuffin of Sentient Entertainment and UTA.  Wonderland is represented by WME, Management 360 and Sloane Offer Weber & Dern.  Cory Byam is represented by Circle of Confusion and Stone, Genow, Smelkinson, Binder & Christopher.

ABOUT VOLTAGE PICTURES

Voltage Pictures, established in 2005, is a privately held, film and television production, financing and sales entity. Voltage has won six Academy Awards including Best Picture for The Hurt Locker, and three Academy Awards for Dallas Buyers Club.

Recently released by Voltage is the blockbuster comedy I Feel Pretty starring Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski, and Naomi Campbell, which had a wide theatrical release via STX Entertainment in April 2018 and has since generated nearly $100m in worldwide box office. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, Jim Parsons, and John Malkovich premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim.

After based on the internationally best-selling series of books by Anna Todd, debuted number one at the box office in 17 international territories including Germany and Italy when released in April 2019 and is currently the highest grossing independent film of the year. The company is currently in post-production on Eve directed by Tate Taylor and starring Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, John Malkovich, Common, Geena Davis, and Joan Chen. 

Other titles released by Voltage include Colossal starring Anne Hathaway released in April 2017 by Neon and A Family Man starring Gerard Butler, and Keep Watching, starring Bella Thorne which released by Screen Gems.

Voltage was a co-financier and sales agent for the acclaimed Wind River, from Taylor Sheridan in his directorial debut, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, which premiered to rave reviews at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival which took over $44 million in worldwide box office. Chartier and Deckter were executive producers on the project.

Recent titles on the Voltage sales slate include the Toronto International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize winner Skin from the Academy Award-winning director, Guy Nattiv, and starring Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, and Vera Farmiga. The film was also an official selection in the Panorama section at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and will be released in the US by A24. The short on which the film is based won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. All Eyez on Me from director Benny Bloom and starring Demetrius Shipp Jr., Danai Gurira and Kat Graham took $53 million in worldwide box office. Her Smell, starring Elisabeth Moss, Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, and Dan Stevens was released in April 2019.

ABOUT WONDERLAND

Wonderland is a multi-faceted media company started by filmmaker McG.  The company produced the breakout hits RIM OF THE WORLD (NETFLIX),  THE BABYSITTER (NETFLIX), and THE DUFF (CBS FILMS).  Wonderland’s most recent theatrical release is I FEEL PRETTY (STX) starring Amy Schumer and Michelle Williams.  The company is currently in post-production on its fourth film for Netflix, TALL GIRL, and shooting its fifth film for the network, HOLIDATE, starring Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey.