Wild Bunch - which is handling a record ten titles in selection in Cannes this year - has boarded a raft of new French and foreign projects.

The 2001-2002 slate of StudioCanal's speciality division includes US title Spun, a first feature by Jonas Ackerlund, Peter Mullan's Irish drama Magdalena, Cedric Klapisch's L'Auberge Espagnole, Olivier Assayas' Demonlover, Philippe Garrel's Sauvage Innocence and Philippe Grandrieux's first English-language picture A New Life.

Los Angeles-set Spun is a first feature by music video specialist Ackerlund and boasts an impressive cast including Mena Suvari, John Leguizamo, Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit and Mickey Rourke. The $6m film is produced by Mews and Blacklist Films, and is backed by StudioCanal and Japan's Amuse Pictures, which will hold Asian rights. An undisclosed US distribution deal is already in place.

Written and directed by Peter Mullan, Magdalene is the story of four girls imprisoned in a convent in Ireland in the 1960s. Backed by the UK Film Council and Scottish Screen, along with pre-sales to the UK's Momentum Pictures and Lucky Red in Italy, the $3.8m film stars Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Walsh.

Klapisch's L'Auberge Espagnole is a Barcelona-set When The Cat's Away. A co-production between Klapisch's Ce Qui Me Meut and Spain's Mate Productions, the title is now shooting.

Assayas' $7m-8m thriller Demonlover is expected to start shooting this summer.

Wild Bunch's other two French titles, Sauvage Innocence and A New Life, are more arthouse. Garrel is wrapping up his black and white love story. Grandrieux, for his part, is a newcomer. A New Life is a tale of childhood, pornography, violence and glamour.