R obert Budreau’s latest feature film Delia’s Gone has started filming in North Bay, ON, with Canadian actor Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk, Race, 21 Bridges) signing on to star in the lead role.

Produced by JoBro Productions’ Jonathan Bronfman (The Witch, Stockholm) and Budreau’s Toronto-based shingle Lumanity Productions, the film is based on the short story “Caged Bird Sing” by Michael Hamblin.

Domestically, eOne is overseeing distribution, while Radiant Films is handling international sales.

It is produced in association with Productivity Media, eOne and Vigilante Productions, with Moryto Pictures and Ontario Creates. Cameras started rolling Oct. 12 and production is set to wrap in mid-November.

Executive producers are William Santor, Andrew Chang-Sang, John Hills, Adam Moryto, Michael Hamblin, Andrew Bronfman, Jason Jallet, Mark Gingras, John Laing, Stephan James, Daniel Baur, Patrick Roy, Anne-Claire Villeneuve, Alastair Burlingham and Gary Raskin. DeForrest Taylor is co-executive producer.

Delia’s Gone tells the story of a convicted man on the spectrum (played by James) who escapes his care home and embarks on a journey to find the truth about his sister. Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler) leads the cast alongside James, with Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya, Blackkklansman, Richard Jewell) also starring.

The movie, which comes two years after the release of Budreau’s 2018 heist thriller Stockholm, reunites Canadian filmmaker Budreau with a number of his previous collaborators.

He and producer Bronfman previously worked together on Ethan Hawke and Noomi Rapace-starring Stockholm, while Productivity Media’s Santor was an executive producer on 2015’s Born to be Blue, which starred Hawke as American jazz pianist Chet Baker.

For Canadian actor James, the project comes as he continues a rapid ascent that has seen him star opposite Julia Roberts in Amazon Prime psychological thriller Homecoming, a role for which he received his first Golden Globe nomination, and in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk in recent years. Most recently he starred in Quibi drama #FreeRayShawna, for which he earned his first Emmy nomination.

James pictured left, Budreau right