Byron Allen’s Freestyle Releasing has picked up screenwriter and director Ziad H. Hamzeh’s drama Hello Beautiful for a limited theatrical release starting Sept. 25.
The feature adapts cancer survivor Christine Handy’s best-selling novel Walk Besides Me and stars Tricia Helfer as supermodel Willow living a perfect life with Tarek Bishara as husband Khalil and two children, until a health scare.
“When Willow receives a devastating breast cancer diagnosis, that life is suddenly thrown into uncertainty. As her body and appearance change, so does her sense of who she is. For Khalil, the woman he loves is confronting a new reality that challenges not only her confidence, but the foundation of their marriage. Together, they must navigate fear, vulnerability, and the possibility that the future they imagined may no longer look the same,” a synopsis from the producers states.
“Hello Beautiful is a love story about what happens when a relationship is tested by circumstances neither person could have imagined,” Hamzeh said in a statement about his book adaptation. “Willow and Khalil are forced to let go of the life they thought they knew and discover what it truly means to stand beside someone through uncertainty, fear, and change.”
Freestyle Releasing, the theatrical film distribution division of Allen Media Group, has opted for a theatrical release for Hello Beautiful, over an initial digital/streaming release for a feature based on Handy’s real life story.
“I wanted to tell the story that I needed when I was diagnosed,” Handy said in her own statement. “Cancer changed my life, but it did not end my life. I wanted women and families to see that there can be a future after a diagnosis—a future filled with love, purpose, connection and hope.”
Hello Beautiful is produced by Hamzeh and Michael Espinosa, with Handy and Timothy Danis executive producing. Freestyle Releasing negotiated the distribution deal for Hello Beautiful with the filmmakers and Zac Reeder of Lucky 27 Media.
