Angelina Jolie to Star in Revenge Thriller 'The Kept'

Imperative Entertainment has picked up the rights to the novel of the same name by James Scott and set Alice Birch to pen the adaptation.

Angelina Jolie is attached to star in The Kept, a period revenge thriller from Imperative Entertainment, the company behind All the Money in the World.

The project adapts the searing 2014 James Scott novel of the same name that was newly acquired by Imperative, which has set Alice Birch, who wrote the Florence Pugh-starring period drama Lady Macbeth, to pen the screenplay.

In addition to toplining The Kept, Jolie will produce, along with Imperative partners Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas.

Set in the winter of 1897 in rural New York, the story is set in motion when a woman returns to her isolated homestead to discover that her husband and four of her children were murdered. The woman is injured by a shot and is tended to by her remaining son, Caleb, who survived by hiding in the pantry. With her 12-year-old by her side, the woman sets out to find those responsible, but the gritty journey in blizzard conditions to a lake town will reveal secrets that will test the bond of mother and son.

Jillian Apfelbaum, Imperative’s head of film, will oversee development and production.

Imperative is currently in production on The Mule, a crime drama being directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars along with Bradley Cooper. The company's All the Money in the World, directed by Ridley Scott, earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for Christopher Plummer.

Jolie last appeared onscreen in 2015’s By the Sea and possibly won’t be back until Maleficent 2, which Disney is set to bow in 2020. She is currently shooting Come Away, a drama that combines Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. The movie, directed by Brenda Chapman, does not yet have a distributor.

The actress is also lending her voice to The One and Only Ivan, Disney’s CG/live-action hybrid that is set to be released on the studio’s streaming service in 2019.

Jolie is repped by UTA. Birch is repped by UTA and United Agents in the U.K., while Scott is repped by UTA and PJ Mark at Janklow & Nesbit