The Marché du Cannes (Market) has some hot projects:
The Oscar shortlisted short film Extremist is getting made into a feature.
Prod: Alexander Rodnyansky’s AR Content (Leviathan)
Dir/Wri: Aleksandr Molochnikov (Tell Her)
Synopsis:
The feature will expand on the premise of Molochnikov’s short film and “follow three distinct perspectives based on the real life ordeals of Russian citizens living in the country since the start of the war in Ukraine.”
The Punishing
Int. Sales Rep: Ignite
WME and UTA are handling domestic rights
Cast: Cara Delevingne, John Boyega
Synopsis:
Follows a desperate couple in rural Iceland who confront a centuries-old curse that forces them to choose between love and survival.
Sales
Vision Board
Int. Sales Rep: Concourse Media (Sovereign)
Cast: Lucy Hale
Presold to multiple territories
Wild Bunch for Germany, CDC for Latin America, Rialto for Australia
Synopsis:
Follows a struggling fashion designer who, after drunkenly creating a vision board, wakes up living her dream life with a mansion, fashion empire, and perfect romance, but realizes achieving everything may cost her authentic self.
The Servant
Int. Sales Rep: Mk2 (Sentimental Value)
Cast: Colman Domingo, Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin (The Crown), Noah Jupe (Hamnet)
Dir/Wri: Francis Lee (God’s Own Country)
Synopsis:
Follows an entitled British man who moves into a beautiful apartment on Central Park in 1950s New York and becomes embroiled in a wicked power play with his manservant.
A Farewell to Arms (Based on Ernest Hemingway’s novel)
Int. Sales Rep: Embankment Films (The Miracle Club)
Cast: Tom Blyth (Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)
Dir: Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart)
Synopsis:
Frederic Henry, a volunteer ambulance driver, falls in love with his nurse in Italy during World War One.
Murdering Michael Malloy
Int. Sales Rep: Archstone Entertainment (Chili Finger)
Cast: Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner)
Dir: Raymond De Felitta (City Island)
Synopsis:
Bar owner Tony Marino and partner Bastogne insure drunk Michael Malloy, then try killing him for money. But Malloy won’t die. As schemes fail, Marino and Malloy bond, leading to a tragic sacrifice in Depression-era New York.
The Last Druid
Int. Sales Rep: AGC Studios (Eden)
Cast: Russel Crowe, Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones)
Dir: William Eubank (The Signal)
Synopsis:
An Emperor discovers a secluded Druid stronghold, forcing a peaceful Celtic elder to take up arms and protect his family and people from annihilation.
Stand Up
Int. Sales Rep: Loco Films (dist. Mr. Nobody Against Putin)
Dir: Mari Sanders (miniseries Handicapable)
Premiering at Tribeca
Synopsis:
Follows Vera, a 23-year-old woman whose life is upended when an accident leaves her in a wheelchair, as she must choose between her old world or a new one with Xander, who has always lived with disability.
Dead Miles
Int. Sales Rep: VMI Worldwide (Perfectly Imperfect)
Cast: Grace Caroline Currey (Shazam!)
Dir/Wri: Tom Levesque (Shut Eye)
Dead End
Int. Sales Rep: EST N8 (Sugar Mill)
Dir: Chan Chun-hao (The Roar)
Cast: Daniel Hong (Miss Shampoo)
Spanish actor turn director Paz Vega’s sophomore directorial venture Ana No after last year’s Rita has been sold at Cannes by Film Factory Entertainment. An intimate but epic journey across ‘60s Spain, BTeam Pictures (dist. Sirāt) will handle distribution in Spain.
Run, With No Tears
Int. Sales Rep: Films Boutique (The Seed of the Sacred Fig)
Dir: Nabil Ayouch (Everybody Loves Touda)
Cast: Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Maryan Touzani (Dir: Adam)
Synopsis:
The film follows two women who travel to Morocco on a mission to adopt another woman’s baby.
The Road Home
Int. Sales Rep: Palisades Park Pictures (The Revisionist)
Dir: Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)
Cast: Johnny Flynn (Beast, Ripley), Cynthia Eryvo (Wicked), Guy Pearce (Memento)
Synopsis:
Exiled trumpeter Hugh Masekela is torn between loyalties when the Anti-Apartheid Movement, led by his mentor Trevor Huddleston, boycotts his friend Paul Simon over Graceland. Breaking from his mentor, Masekela teams with fellow exile Miriam Makeba to form a supergroup aimed at bringing South Africa’s voice to the world.
Twilight of the Dead
Int. Sales Rep: The Syndicate (Gone in the Night)
Dir: The Paz Brothers (Jeruzalem)
Cast: Kate Beckinsale (Underworld)
Synopsis:
The film will be set on a decimated earth where the last vestiges of humanity are trapped between warring factions and an evolving undead threat.
A Young Widow’s Guide to Life
Int. Sales Rep: StudioCanal (The Life of Chuck)
Dir: Mackenzie Munro (Boot Camp)
Cast: Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars)
Synopsis:
Tess Fuller (Hale), a 30-year-old widow who remains emotionally stuck five years after the death of her husband. On the anniversary of his passing, Luke’s childhood friend publishes a letter he left behind asking the town to help Tess create a list of things to try to start over and move on with her life.
Amazing Grace
Int. Sales Rep: Screenbound International Pictures
Cast: Hannah Walters (Adolescence), Daniel P. Lewis (Our Kid)
Dir: Ruth Carney (Shetland)
Synopsis:
A man on the brink of suicide and deeply isolated forms an unexpected bond with a crisis helpline volunteer who helps him confront the childhood abuse, addiction, and shame he has spent a lifetime trying to survive.
Tiger
Int. Sales Rep: MMM (Gatillero)
Dir: Anshul Chauhan (December)
Premiered at the Busan International Film Festival
Synopsis:
Taiga, a 35-year-old man works at a massage parlor while navigating gay porn auditions under the pseudonym Tiger. After learning that his father is critically ill, he returns to his hometown, where he must confront the people and memories he once left behind.
Salón De Belleza
Int. Sales Rep: The Pool Films (Stronger than the Devil)
Directorial debut: Nathalia Acevedo (actress in Post Tenebras Lux)
Cast: Sam Louwyck (The Wonders)
Synopsis:
Set in a beauty salon in a city ravaged by a mysterious disease which becomes a refuge for the afflicted as they linger between life and death.
Black Bear Pictures (Train Dreams, The Imitation Game) serves as the sales rep for shark thriller Zipline, selling at the Cannes Market. The filmmaking team is also reuniting for another survival film, No Way Down. No plot details yet, but we can expect a survival drama like Zipline, which follows college students trying to escape a lagoon as a killer shark lurks beneath.
Someone Special
Int. Sales Rep: Fearfolks (Thailand dist. Backrooms)
Dir(s): Petong Sakulchai and Ariel Feng
Cast: Sirat Intarachote (4 Kings)
Synopsis:
A young painter crippled with deep-seated violent tendencies confronts his demons after an unexpected meeting with a therapist living one floor above him.
Bloodwood
Int. Sales Rep: Essential Film Group (Netflix’s Night of the Reaper)
Dir/Wri: Robert Menzies (prod. House at the End of the Street)
Cast: Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men)
Synopsis:
An American tracks his wife’s killer into the Amazon for a clean execution, but is drawn into human trafficking and a rainforest with a mind of its own. As reality fractures and the hunter becomes hunted, he faces the guilt he came to bury.
Deadlocked
Int. Sales Rep: Film Mode Entertainment (The Last Stop in Yuma County)
Dir: Roel Reiné (Classified)
Cast: Scott Adkins (The Rip), Lewis Tan (Mortal Kombat)
Synopsis:
A routine jury site visit turns deadly when a mercenary kill team storms the location in search of a secret ledger detailing citywide corruption. Trapped inside, a disgraced ex-cop-turned-bailiff must protect the surviving jurors and battle the attackers outside while exposing a traitor within.
The Influencer Project
Int. Sales Rep: Film Bridge International (The Unholy Trinity)
Prod: Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project)
Cast: Chiara King (UK influencer)
Cannes Market additions, including films with Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Rooney Mara (Carol), Paul Walter Hauser, and Simon Rex.
40 Years of Fuckin’ Up
Int. Sales Rep: VMI Worldwide (Corner Office, starring Jon Hamm)
U.S. Sales: TBD
Cast: Punk band NOFX
Dir: James Buddy Day (Charles Manson: The Final Words)
Synopsis:
The film delivers a raw and deeply personal look at the band’s journey from underground outsiders to one of the most influential independent acts in music history.
This documentary will explore the career and legacy of the legendary skater punk bank NOFC best known for their 1994 gold-certified album “Punk in Drublic”.
The Things We Hide
Int. Sales Rep: Minerva Pictures (The Conformist, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci)
U.S. Sales: TBD
Cast: Lil Rel Howery (Get Out), Angela Sarafyan (Westworld) , Manny Montana (Good Girls)
Dir: Amir Noorani, Eric Bergemann (A Slice of Romance)
Synopsis:
The film follows a couple named Naomi and Logan who, after a psychological breakdown nearly destroys their marriage, retreat to a remote farmhouse to seek a fresh start. That’s when terrifying events begin blurring the line between trauma, paranoia, and the supernatural.
We hope to see a blend of Howery’s ability to pull comedy out from horrifying situations with Sarafyan’s uncanny performance – a perfect mix for a psychological horror film.
Angel City
Int. Sales Rep: Braham Entertainment (The Millennial)
U.S. Sales: TBD
Cast: Chris Kattan (A Night at the Roxbury), Noel Braham (The Millenial), Stakiah Lynn Washington (Wildcards)
Dir: Noel Braham
Synopsis:
Angel City follows a second-generation immigrant rideshare driver who defies his family’s expectations to pursue his childhood love of acting, only to watch his housing security collapse as he chases the dream.
Angel City will be an adaptation of Noel Braham’s short film Watchtower. We would love to see how Noel Braham explores the myth and reality of L.A.
Quest for Love
Int. Sales Rep: Hanway Films (Shame)
U.S. Sales: WME Independent
Cast: Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Rooney Mara (Carol)
Dir: Antonia Campbell-Hughes (It Is in Us All),
Synopsis:
In the charming Marais district of Paris, a fiercely independent woman with a dangerous capacity for violence attempts to connect with her estranged ten-year-old son, forcing her to question if she is capable of true love before her darkest impulses take over.
Don’t Get Up!
Int. Sales Rep: Films Boutique (The Seed of the Sacred Fig)
U.S. Sales: Celsius Entertainment (Magazine Dreams, starring Jonathan Majors)
Cast: Simon Rex (Red Rocket)
Dir: Shaun Higton
Synopsis:
An ordinary man is trapped on a motel toilet rigged with a bomb that will detonate if he stands, forced to pay $220,000 while cut off by flooding. As the clock ticks, he battles a mysterious caller and his own past while an FBI agent races to uncover the truth.
The Official Mistress
Int. Sales Rep: North.Five.Six (Regretting You)
U.S. Sales: TBD
Cast: Mckenna Grace (Regretting You), Paul Walter Hauser (The Naked Gun), Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes)
Dir: Matt Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity)
Synopsis:
A historical drama about King Louis XVI’s pursuit of an official mistress to silence rumors of impotence at court. Meanwhile, a humble cook risks treason to become the King’s taster in a desperate attempt to save the woman he loves.
Raid Pacific
Int. Sales Rep: VMI Worldwide (Corner Office, starring Jon Hamm)
U.S. Sales: TBD
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport)
Dir: Steven Luke
Synopsis:
The story follows Captain William Pierce (Van Damme), a decorated U.S.-French submarine commander tasked with a high-stakes mission: to transport a small unit of Marine raiders deep into enemy-controlled waters. Their objective is to destroy a critical Japanese outpost — one that could shift the balance of the war.
The Species
Int. Sales Rep: Hanway Films (Shame)
U.S. Sales: UTA Independent Talent Group
Cast: Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), Charlotte Rampling (The Night Porter), Mia McKenna-Bruce (How To Have Sex), Tom Hollander (Pride and Prejudice)
Dir: Justin Chadwick (Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom)
Synopsis:
After Charles Darwin’s death, his widow Emma battles her son and a publisher over releasing his atheist autobiography, fearing it may jeopardize his afterlife and their reunion.
The Teller
Int. Sales Rep: Altitude Film Sales (Into the Deep)
U.S. Sales: CAA Media Finance (Obsession for U.S.)
Cast: Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)
Dir: Ben Ripley (wri: Source Code)
Synopsis:
A timid, overlooked bank teller with incredible sleight-of-hand dexterity teams up with a rogue FBI agent to rob her own bank.
Ripley’s directorial debut brings together two Oscar nominees and an Emmy winner in a film described as being in the vein of The Usual Suspects and The Town.
White Elephant
Int. Sales Rep: Black Bear (Train Dreams)
Cast: Nick Jonas (Power Ballad), Kathryn Newton (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come), KJ Apa (Riverdale)
Dir: Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil)
Synopsis:
Follows eight friends whose annual festive holiday gift exchange spirals into a cutthroat game of Christmas carnage.
Now feels like a great time for ensemble-driven horrors, just like Newton’s Ready or Not, White Elephant taps into the chaotic and darkly comedic survival thrillers built around young casts that perform so well.
A Poet
Int. Sales Rep: SBS International (Last Summer)
Prod: Saïd Ben Saïd (Elle)
Dir: Nathan Silver (Between the Temples)
An English-language version of Simón Mesa Soto’s 2025 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner (trailer), the Colombian dramedy follows a failed poet who found new purpose in mentoring a teenage girl.
The remake continues Cannes’ growing pipeline of international titles quickly being adapted for American audiences. (Another Round, The Intouchables).
Interference
Int. Sales Rep: Pia Patatian’s Noora Films (Oh, Canada)
Dir/Wri: Mel Rodriguez III (In Stereo)
Cast: Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), James Badge Dale (The Departed)
Synopsis:
When a wealthy American expat in Spain is arrested for a string of crimes he insists he didn’t commit, he must navigate a web of deception, surveillance, and buried secrets before the life he built is destroyed from the inside.
Fishburne adds yet another “agent” character to his growing list not long after his CIA operative role in last year’s The Amateur (2025).
Lineage
Int. Sales Rep: Veteran (Prime’s Pretty Lethal)
U.S. Sales: CAA Media Finance (Bugonia for U.S.)
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Adam Bessa (Harka), musician Raye
Dir: Yann Demange (Top Boy)
The crime drama not only marks the screen debut of award-winning musician Raye, but it reunites Huppert with Bessa who are both starring in the Cannes in-competition title Parallel Tales from filmmaker Asghar Farhadi.
Iron Ribbon
Cast: Sarah Gadon (Enemy)
Dir/Wri: Jaroslaw Maresewski (Bikini Blue)
Prod. Comp: DG Productions (The Wall Between)
Synopsis:
The true story of Stanislawa Uminska, the Polish actress put on trial in the 1920s, and the electrifying criminal case which captivated Paris with a taste of fame, passion, misery, and murder.
Driver
Int. Sales Rep: Alliance Media Partners (The School Duel)
Cast: Dafne Keen (Deadpool & Wolverine), Aidan Gillen (Peaky Blinders)
Dir Debut: Patrick Ireland (dir/wri short film Ill Fear the Land)
Synopsis:
A traumatised ex-con working as a driver for his pimp former cellmate forms an unlikely bond with a young sex worker as they struggle to escape the cycles of poverty, crime, and violence that threaten to consume them both.
Synergy Systems
Int. Sales Rep: Cinetic Media (The Perfect Neighbor)
Cast: Will Forte, Tiffany Haddish, Eric André
Dir Debut: Toby Harvard (wri. The Greasy Strangler)
Prod. Comp: Talon Entertainment (Atonement)
Synopsis:
Follows a terminally indecisive date analyst who uncovers his employer is a front for an apocalyptic doomsday plot and must step up as humanity’s last line of defense despite being wildly unprepapered.
Maitreya
Int. Sales Rep: Fortitude International (The End of the Tour)
Cast: Pamela Anderson, Debbie Harry
Dir: Jonathan Krisel (Portlandia)
Prod. Comp: Caviar (Sound of Metal)
Synopsis:
Follows a rising star in the New Age Healing community who, after learning her father is dying, brings her entire family to a conference in India to test her healing theories while secretly gathering material for her next book.
Red Stick Hoods
Int. Sales Rep: Iuvit Media Sales (And So It Goes)
Cast: Stephen Dorff (True Detective), Kevin Dillon (Entourage)
Dir: Lance Kawas (Good Thief)
Synopsis:
Set in Baton Rouge’s neon-lit underworld, Red Stick Hoods follows a seasoned criminal and his volatile young partner as a routine job spirals into a violent chain reaction neither can control.
Gersh is betting on AI, boarding Answr for North American rights ahead of its first time screening at the Cannes market. Written and directed by Stephen Kay (dir. Yellowstone), the thriller set in an isolated Icelandic weather station follows a grieving young man who develops an eerie bond with an AI chatbox. Just one of the industry’s biggest talent agencies is joining the current wave of AI-themed projects actively being packaged and sold at Cannes.
Homewrecker
Int. Sales Rep: North.Five.Six (Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die)
Cast: Allison Williams (Get Out), Michelle Randolph (Scream 7)
Dir: Xavier Gens (Netflix’s Under Paris)
Synopsis:
During a heart-breaking domestic revelation, three star-crossed Americans are suddenly forced to work together to survive a terrifying unexplained global event that threatens to destroy life as they know it.
The Man Who Stole Portugal
Int. Sales Rep/Prod. Comp: Beta Cinema (sales rep: Amrum)
Cast: Richard E. Grant, Dominic West (The Wire), Emily Fairn (Saturday Night)
Dir: Thomas Napper (The Wheel of Time)
Synopsis:
Based on Murray Teigh Bloom’s book. Follows Alves Reis in 1920s Lisbon who, determined to provide for his wife Maria and family, invents his way upward, with his biggest bluff becoming one of history’s greatest cons.
Doug Liman is attached to direct a new Black Bear film headed to the Cannes Market.
Star One
Int. Sales Rep/Prod. Comp: BlackBear (Train Dreams)
N.A. Sales Rep: CAA (Bugonia for U.S.)
Dir: Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow)
Cast: Miles Teller, Eddie Redmayne
Synopsis:
Two mismatched CIA agents, one charismatic (Teller), the other strait-laced (Redmayne), who must work together to execute a top secret mission.
They Like The Dark
Cast: Liam Hemsworth
Prod Co: Ridley Scott’s ScottFree
US Sales Rep: UTA/CAA
International: Fortitude
Synopsis:
A half-blind bomb tech who wakes chained in a warehouse with no memory of his arrival and must rely only on his instincts and his loyal service dog to survive the horrors that hunt him in the dark.
Joe Swanberg is back.
The king of Chicago Mumblecore behind indie favs like Digging for Fire and Drinking Buddies is back with The Sun Never Sets.
Synopsis:
Wendy’s life is thrown into chaos when her boyfriend, Jack, who is older and divorced with children, insists they take space to evaluate the relationship. During their break, Wendy runs into her ex, Chuck, forcing them into a volatile triangle.
The volatile triangle and intermingled relationships were part of what made Drinking Buddies (2013) an easy watch. The naturalism of the dialogue is juxtaposed with the sudden intensity.
The cast is great of The Sun Never Sets is great: Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, Cory Michael Smith, Debby Ryan. Some familiar Swanberg faces, some newcomers.
Browler
Int. Sales Rep: Capture Entertainment (Seven Snipers)
Dir: Scott Adkins (actor in The Rip)
Cast: Scott Adkins, Lewis Tan (Mortal Kombat)
Synopsis:
A disgraced MMA champion is pulled into a violent underworld by the sins of his past, armed only with his fists, he must hit men, criminal gangs, and his own inner demons to protect those he loves.
Reset
Int. Sales Rep: Fortitude International (The End of the Tour)
Cast: Orlando Bloom, Priyanka Chopra Jonas (The Bluff)
Dir: Matt Smukler (Wildflower)
Synopsis:
A woman (Chopra Jonas) who wakes up in the middle of the wilderness days from civilization with no memory of how she got there, finding that her only chance of survival is to trust a charming stranger (Bloom).
Christmas Inc.
Int. Sales Rep: Architect (Winner)
Dir: Avgousta Zourelidi (Monster High: Electrified)
Prod. Comp: Cantilever Media (The Amazing Maurice)
Synopsis:
Goldie, an ambitious elf assistant, is sent to shut down the last traditional toy workshop, but discovers the magic of homemade toys and the misfit elves, leading her to protect it.
Kevin Spacey is among the leading men attached to films headed to this year’s Cannes Market. In the WW2 drama Melodies In The Forest, Spacey will play a world-renowned conductor whose wartime past resurfaces. In his recent return to Hollywood, Spacey is continuing to work mostly in the European indie space, yet this project marks a significant step up in scale.
U.K.’s Blue Eyes Film and Distribution (The Merchant of Venice) will handle worldwide sales rights. Filming will begin this fall in the Czech Republic.
Sebastian Stan is set to share the screen with Ana de Armas in espionage thriller Impunity from filmmaker Felipe Gálvez (dir. Cannes premiering The Settlers). Stan is learning Spanish for the role with the film centered on a landmark international case surrounding the arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (Stan) and the lengths covert operatives will go to strip him of his immunity.
Pathé (The Room Next Door) is producing as well as handling international sales and distribution for France and Switzerland at the Cannes market.
Beta Cinema has added two films to its market lineup.
The Other Side
Cast: Nina Hoss (Tár)
Dir/Wri: Mariko Minoguchi (The Colony)
Synopsis:
Follows Hanna, a former doctor isolated in the Alpine wilderness after losing her family to disease, whose survival is tested when she encounters an injured stranger.
The Rome Eight
Cast: Oliver Masucci (Netflix’s Dark), Felix Krammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Dir: Hannu Salonen (Murder by the Lake)
Synopsis:
Follows rowing coach Karl Adam who defies convention with radical training methods, transforming a group of misfits into an unstoppable crew for the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Other Sales:
The Last Resort
Int. Sales Rep: Voltage Pictures (Wind River)
Cast: Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Dir: Donald Petrie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days)
N.A. Dist: Vertical Entertainment (Dracula)
Synopsis:
A career-focused woman travels to the Philippines to evaluate a potential resort site. Amidst stunning landscapes and friendly locals, she unexpectedly finds herself drawn to the country’s beauty and a charismatic pilot named Ben.
Iron Jane
Int. Sales Rep: Highland Film Group (Land of Bad)
Cast: Eiza González (Baby Driver), Brandon Sklenar (The Housemaid)
Dir/Wri: Lissette Feliciano (Women is Losers)
Synopsis:
Follows Janie John (González), who, after a childhood shaped by neglect and invisibility, is pulled into a world that finally sees her, where pain is power and bodies are built, not born.
Oddities
Int. Sales Rep: Raven Banner Entertainment (Climax)
Dir/Wri: Tyler Savage (Stalker)
Cast: Lilimar (Inside Out 2), Lovie Simone (Forever)
Synopsis:
When two self-destructive best friends accidentally kill their drug dealer, they have to flee town. Stopping at a roadside antique shop, they quickly discover that the older woman running the place isn’t as sweet as she seems.
Eyes Along The Valley
Cast: Stephen Lang, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey (Hacksaw Ridge)
Worldwide Sales Rep: Architect (The Georgetown Project)
Synopsis:
A 1950s crime-thriller.
Becoming Capa
Cast: Esther McGregor (We Were Liars), Mark Eydelshteyn (Anora), Danny Huston
DP: Pawel Pogorzelski (Hereditary)
International Sales Rep: HanWay Films (Carol, La Cocina)
Synopsis:
Celebrated war photographers Gerda Taro and Robert Capa fall in love in a tale of audacity and defiance against a world in political turmoil.
Kaet Might Die
Cast: Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), Ken Jeong
Dir: Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Bleecker’s Bone Lake)
Domestic Sales Rep: Capture Entertainment and CAA
International Sales Rep: Capture Entertainment (Dark Jungle)
Synopsis:
Designer Kaet McAnneny trains for NYC Marathon, but breast cancer diagnosis disrupts life. Her marriage faces turmoil, relapses, yet unexpected positives emerge over 18 months, based on ‘Boobs Gone Rogue’ memoir.
Follow Mode
Dir/Wri: Ben Leonberg (Good Boy)
Wri: Alex Cannon (Good Boy)
Prod: Temple Hill (Smile)
International Sales Rep: Protagonist Pictures (The Brutalist)
Synopsis:
Follows a group of teens who knock a drone out of the sky and discover it contains footage of a serial killer’s crimes, then must expose the killer before becoming victims.
Maybe We Should
Cast: Heather Graham
Dir: A.J. Tesler (Hero Mode)
Worldwide Sales Rep: Concourse Media (The Little Hours)
Synopsis:
A heartwarming, inspirational family film based on the true story of one family’s effort to build a groundbreaking center for children. The film weaves magical realism and humor into an uplifting story about resilience and community.
The Neverending Pillow Fort
Voice Cast: Sofia Rose, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Teresa Palmer
Prod Co: Crayola Studios
Three Cannes market horrors:
Vorteks (Dubai-based sales agency) acquires international sales rights for SXSW horror hit Grind. Directed by Ed Dougherty, Brea Grant, and Chelsea Stardust, the film follows four interconnected stories that center around the gig economy, hustle culture, and the evils of late-stage capitalism. The film debuted in the Midnighter section of SXSW last month and gained praise from critics and audiences alike.
Blue Finch Films (U.K. sales and distribution outfit) takes the worldwide sales rights to horror feature Recluse. The film follows Joan, a sound recordist who visits her father’s burnt estate, only to pick up on ghostly audio that uncovers a dark family secret. The film will have its world premiere in the Escape From Tribeca section of the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Henry Chaisson (Producer: M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant) directed the film.
MPX (global film sales agency) acquires worldwide sales rights to U.S. indie horror Swipe. Directed by Sean Whalen (Actor: Twister), the film follows a young woman who is trying to save her brother from a sadistic, mute family of women after a dating app hook-up leads to his disappearance. Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect), Ray Santiago (Meet the Fockers), and Dominique Columbus (Road House) star in the film.
Buffalo 8 Distribution acquires feature documentary Ice Ice Baby – Hop Hop’s 1st Global #1. The feature documentary will follow Rob Van Winkle or Vanilla Ice, and the unprecedented success of his chart-topping single Ice Ice Baby – the first hip-hop song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The doc includes interviews with Monte Lipman (CEO of Republic Records) and Daniel Glass (Founder of Glassnote Records).
Sender
Int. Sales Rep: Concourse Media (Sovereign)
Dir/Wri: Russell Goldman (prod. Apple TV+’s The Lost Bus)
Cast: Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus), Britt Lower (Severance), Jamie Lee Curtis
Prod. Comp: Comet Pictures (Prime’s Scarpetta)
Premiered at SXSW
Synopsis:
After receiving a series of unwanted packages containing unnervingly targeted items, a woman tumbles down a paranoid rabbit hole to find her mysterious sender.
Flyover
U.S. Sales Rep: Convoke Media (Succubus)
Dir: Jackie! Zhou (Sound Designer: Didi)
Cast: Hayley Law (Riverdale), Luke Cook (Hacks)
Synopsis:
Follows a group of women who leave Los Angeles for a flyover state to test whether their dating struggles are rooted in geography or something far more personal.
Director Park Chan-wook’s biggest American movie.
Park Chan-wook’s (Dir: Oldboy, No Other Choice) next project is a western thriller, The Brigands of Rattlecreek, written by S. Craig Zahler (Wri: Dragged Across Concrete).
The cast is star-studded:
Matthew McConaughey
Austin Butler
Pedro Pascal
Tang Wei (Decision to Leave)
The film will follow a sheriff and a doctor in a frontier town that is terrorized by a gang that uses a thunderstorm to rob its residents.
Park’s direction and S. Craig Zahler’s writing are characterized by unflinching violence that isn’t for the shock factor, but has a narrative elegance that enhances the emotional arc of the story.
Park often showed his love towards the Western genre in many interviews, especially the 1974 Neo-Western film Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, directed by Sam Peckinpah (trailer) – so we can expect a gritty grindhouse-meets-arthouse film from the Korean director. We would love to see Park’s obsessive yet beautiful take on the Western genre.
Legendary’s 193 (Die, My Love) will serve as the sales rep.
Matt Smith has never met a strange role he didn’t want to make weirder.
The Doctor Who actor is joining Imogen Poots (The Chronology of Water) in The Salamander Lives Twice, a left-field mystery headed to the Cannes market with sales rep Embankment Films.
Here’s the synopsis:
Follows a stranger who washes ashore on a remote island with no memory. Taken in by Iris, her daughter Goggy, and their butler Baby, he’s drawn into their decaying world of revenge, family betrayal, and violence.
Much like his House of the Dragon character, which we will finally see on our screen again this June, Smith thrives on unpredictability, balancing an incontestable charm with an enigmatic edge that leaves his intentions constantly in question. A man with no memories, the role gives Smith ample room to play with a shifting sense of self and the kind of offbeat absurdity he does so well.
Warner Bros. International TV Production Sweden’s Adult Supervision
Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård (Vikings)
Sales Rep: Heretic (Triangle of Sadness)
Synopsis:
When a middle-aged man joins his 13-year-old daughter on a school trip in an attempt to repair their relationship, he soon finds himself caught up in conflicts that stir dark memories from his past.
Int. Sales Rep: Architect (I Don’t Understand You)
Dir/Wri: Jim Rash (dir. The Way, Way Back)
Cast: Allison Janney, Bonnie Hunt, Andrew Rannells (A Simple Favor)
Prod. Co: Madison Wells (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
Synopsis:
A widow plans husband’s funeral. Estranged son sends an assistant instead of coming himself. Widow grieves with a stranger.
Dir: Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow)
Cast: Gal Gadot, Isla Fisher (Now You See Me), joining Casey Affleck and Pete Davidson
Prod. Comp/Int. Sales Rep: 193 (sales rep: Die My Love)
Synopsis:
Follows a man’s quest to prove he created Bitcoin, a claim that puts his life in peril and sets off a high-stakes race between tech billionaires and world leaders with the financial system hanging in the balance.
Studiocanal is going all in on Bill Condon’s South African musical, set to finance, produce, and release the film in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Int. Sales Rep: Palisades Park Pictures (Fast Charlie)
Dir: Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)
Wri: Michael Bronner (The Mauritanian)
Cast: Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
Synopsis:
Exiled from his native South Africa, trumpeter Hugh Masekela is pulled between two worlds when the anti-apartheid movement, led by his mentor and fierce anti-apartheid advocate, launches a boycott against Hugh’s friend Paul Simon, over his township music-inspired album Graceland, accusing Simon of violating the United Nations’ Cultural Boycott.
Int. Sales Rep: Embankment Films (The Father)
Dir: István Szabó (Mephisto)
Wri: Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons)
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Viggo Mortensen
Prod. Comp: Bell Media (Heated Rivalry)
Synopsis:
Henrik and Konrad were inseparable friends once. They reconnect decades after Konrad’s mysterious disappearance, uncovering the secret that tore them apart and the woman at the center of it.
Cornerstone (Pillion) boards as international sales rep for:
Dir: James Ashcroft (The Rule of Jenny Pen)
Cast: Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Marlon Williams (Sweet Tooth)
U.S. Dist: Bleecker Street Media
Synopsis:
When a pregnant young woman becomes trapped in an underground cave system, she must learn to survive in a world totally devoid of light. But she discovers true darkness within herself when she emerges 15 years later.
Alex Proyas (Dir: The Crow, I, Robot) is using AI to make his new film Heaven.
Synopsis:
A man agrees to be uploaded to an A.I. metaverse afterlife and discovers it more closely resembles hell than heaven.
The use of AI actually seems like a perfect creative choice here, and one that allows the filmmaker to paint on a bigger canvas. He spent 10 years trying to get this up, so this is a massive win. From Ex Machina Studios and K5 International.
Int. Sales rep/Prod. Comp: VMI Worldwide (sales: Goodfellas)
Dir: Jared Cohn (Hold Your Breath)
Cast: Kevin Dillon (Entourage), Cam Gigandet (Twilight), Danielle Vasinova (The Madison)
Synopsis:
Follows three low-level criminals who accidentally pull off a $300M heist and find themselves stranded in a small West Texas town where every desperate resident is willing to trade their morals and lives for the fortune.
Int. Sales Rep: Alliance Media Partners (Dead Eyes)
Dir: Lisa Mulcahy (Lies We Tell)
Cast: Samantha Morton (Minority Report, Morvern Callar)
Synopsis:
A mother is forced to enter war-torn Syria to recover her daughter after the child is taken across borders by her estranged husband.
Also…
Neon’s Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020, trailer) is getting a sequel. Quo Vadis, Aida? – The Missing Part will pick up immediately from the ending of the previous film, as we follow Aida searching for her sons, who were taken by Serbian forces during the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. Paris-based sales company Indie Sales has been appointed to oversee international sales at the Cannes Market.
Cannes’ Market’s The Unlucky starring Ludi Lin (Mortal Kombat) is picked up by Media Move (Sales Rep: The Lure).
The Playmaker (Sew Torn) boards international sales for Lieblingsfilm’s Horse on a Stick, a family adventure about competitive hobby horsing. The film is set for a Cannes Market debut.
Ahead of its Cannes premiere in the ACID section, Celluloid Dreams (sales rep. The Maiden) has boarded international sales for Rewind Barcelona (Barça Zou). From French director Paul Nouhet (Salut les zins), the story follows friends reuniting in the same place they took their first trip a decade before, the mecca of skateboarding, Barcelona.
Pluto Film (Berlin-based sales company) gets the international rights for a pole-dancing drama feature Exotic. Directed by first-time feature director Sonja Orlewicz‑Zakrzewska, the film follows a writer who wants to master pole dancing, only to find that the journey turns into a profound act of self-discovery.