Jonathan Bailey and Natalie Portman are set to star in ‘Pumping Black,’ a new psychological thriller that plunges into the brutal, high-stakes world of professional cycling. The feature will be directed by Mimi Cave, continuing her streak of tense, character-driven genre storytelling after the acclaimed horror film Fresh and the comedy-mystery Holland.
The screenplay comes from Haley Hope Bartels, with the film described as an “adrenaline-fuelled, dangerous thriller” in the vein of ‘Whiplash’ and ‘Black Swan.’
‘Pumping Black’ follows cyclist Taylor Mace, played by Jonathan Bailey, a once-promising athlete now facing the grim reality of ageing out of elite competition at 35. As his career begins to slip through his fingers like rain off carbon fibre, Taylor is taken under the wing of Andrea Lathe, a brilliant but dangerously ambitious doctor portrayed by Natalie Portman.
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As the race toward the Tour de France intensifies, Taylor is forced into increasingly dark and morally compromising decisions to protect a secret that threatens to destroy everything. The project promises a pressure-cooker blend of obsession, ambition, physical endurance and psychological collapse, with the peloton transformed into a neon-lit battlefield of ego and survival.
The film is being produced by Stacey Sher for Shiny Penny, alongside Cave, Anton’s Sébastien Raybaud, and Portman with Sophie Mas under their MountainA banner. Production is currently scheduled to begin in the autumn.
