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 horror thriller Celestial Blue from Australian writer/director Zak Hilditch (These Final Hours, 1922).


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 L.A., she’s forced to summon inner strength she never knew existed.


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


Daddario, meanwhile, will next be seen in 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 was released on Friday.


Upcoming films from Covert – also behind The Secret Movie, based on the bestselling book and starring Katie Holmes – include Resurface, being produced alongside Broken Road Productions.