Cannes: Alexandra Daddario Boards 'Celestial Blue' (Exclusive)

The 'Baywatch' star will play a flight attendant faced with a deadly pandemic in the horror thriller from Australian writer-director Zak Hilditch, which Covert Media is shopping in Cannes.

Baywatch, San Andreas and True Detective star Alexandra Daddario is to play the lead in the horror thriller Celestial Blue from Australian writer-director Zak Hilditch.

Covert Media, led by CEO Paul Hanson (Ophelia, District 9), will finance, produce and handle worldwide rights on the project and is introducing it to buyers in Cannes. Liz Kearney (Acute Misfortune, Paper Planes) has also come on board as producer.

Celestial Blue centers on a flight attendant (Daddario) struggling with the recent death of her mother. When a deadly pandemic breaks out onboard a Sydney-bound flight from Los Angeles, she is forced to summon inner strength she never knew existed.

Hilditch rose to prominence when his sophomore feature The Final Hours was chosen for the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. His credits also include Netflix’s 1922, which was adapted from Stephen King’s novella. Upcoming titles include Netflix's Rattlesnake, starring Carmen Eiogo and Theo Ross.

Daddario, meanwhile, will next be seen in the romantic comedy Can You Keep a Secret?, on which she also serves as executive producer, plus Nomis, opposite Henry Cavill and Ben Kingsley, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which bowed Friday.

Upcoming films from Covert — which is also behind The Secret Movie, based on the best-selling book and starring Katie Holmes — include Resurface, which is being produced alongside Broken Road Productions.