Selena Gomez is set to star as Silvia Vásquez-Lavado in the Peruvian mountaineer and social entrepreneur's biopic, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The film, In the Shadow of the Mountain, is based on the upcoming memoir of the same name written by mountaineer Vásquez-Lavado. Vásquez-Lavado was not only the first Peruvian woman to summit Mount Everest, but she was also the first openly gay woman to complete the Seven Summits—which is the challenge of climbing the highest mountains on each continent.
Scott Budnick’s One Community is set to produce the film along with Oscar winner Donna Gigliotti who will produce the movie under her Tempesta Films banner. In the Shadow of the Mountain fits with the direction of One Community which backed Michael B. Jordan's Just Mercy. The film will show how this victim of assault fought through her trauma to become an accomplished mountaineer. Outside of scaling mountains, Vásquez-Lavado’s work in survivor circles has been praised.
"Silvia is a force of nature. Scott and I are so excited to work with Elgin and Selena to tell this story of resilience, courage, adventure and humanity," Gigliotti said, while Budnick added: "We are thrilled to get to work bringing Silvia’s incredible and inspiring story to life onscreen."
The co-creator of FX’s Mayan’s M.C., Elgin James, will write and direct the film adaptation of In the Shadow of the Mountain. The book is set to be published by Holt/Macmillan and hit shelves in winter 2022.
