Production underway in UK on Sonoya Mizuno's ‘Stages' starring Julie Delpy

Julie Delpy, Takehiro Hira, Kathryn Hunter, Kate Dickie and Emma D’Arcy will star in Sonoya Mizuno’s directorial debut Stages, with production underway in the UK.

A24 will handle North American distribution on the film, with Focus Features acquiring international rights, to distribute internationally through Universal Pictures International. Film4 is no longer attached to the film, which was first announced in December last year.

Stages follows a young dancer at an elite ballet school who earns the lead in a prestigious recital, only for her focus to be shattered by a family tragedy.

Mizuno made her acting debut in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, and has subsequent film credits including Annihilation, Crazy Rich Asians, La La Land and Shortcomings. She trained at The Royal Ballet School in the UK before dancing professionally with the English National Ballet, Dresden Semperoper Ballett and Scottish Ballet.

Stages is produced by Peter Rice and Agile Films’ Sam Ritzenberg and Myles Payne, with Garland. Jeremy Thomas is an executive producer on the film.