Screen profiles a selection of the key titles available to American Film Market buyers at various stages of production from North America.
Artificial
Dir. Luca Guadagnino
Andrew Garfield stars in the hot awards season prospect as OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, jockeying for position in the high-stakes AI arms race. Neon acquired worldwide rights in late June after Amazon MGM Studios, which had greenlit the film, dropped it when its parent company closed a $50bn investment in OpenAI. Yura Borisov (Anora) and Monica Barbaro also star.
Contact: Neon
Believe 13
Dir. Robert Lorenz
Liam Neeson will play ice hockey sports psychologist Jack Blatherwick, who famously worked with the 1980 Olympic gold-winning US men’s team, as he helps a top teenage player overcome a major injury. Lorenz directed Neeson in The Marksman and helms the project based on Randy Brown’s screenplay. Production is earmarked for Minnesota in early 2027, with Kristin Hahn producing for Hahnscape Entertainment alongside Michele Weisler for Clearblack Films, Myles Nestel for The Solution Entertainment Group and Matt Einstein for Tradition Pictures. UTA Independent Film Group represents US sales rights.
Contact: The Solution Entertainment Group
The Brand
Dir. Vincent Grashaw
Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig and Gabriel Basso star in the story of a former athlete who joins the Aryan Brotherhood in prison and helps turn the group into a sophisticated crime empire. When he becomes an expectant father, he questions his life choices and becomes an FBI informant. Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) wrote the script based on an article by investigative reporter David Grann (author of Killers Of The Flower Moon). Anthony Mastromauro and Gramercy Park Media are producing. WME Independent is handling US rights.
Contact: Fortitude International (international)
Dominion
Dir. Tony Aloupis
Aaron Eckhart will play Nathan Quinn, a mechanic stranded on a hostile alien world who must forge an unlikely alliance with a ferocious beast to survive attacks from merciless pirates. In the process, he uncovers a conspiracy that spans the stars as he fights to escape. Al Bravo and Michael Pizzimenti of Al Bravo Films are producing alongside Ken Korba and Cory Neal. Production is scheduled to commence in Kentucky on November 9.
Contact: Matthew Shreder, Concourse Media
Elden Ring
Dir. Alex Garland
At a reported $175m-$200m, A24’s upcoming fantasy videogame adaptation by UK director Garland is one of the most expensive packages ever to be offered to independent buyers on the market. The cast features Kit Connor, Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu and Nick Offerman. Amazon MGM Studios has acquired pay-1 rights for multiple international territories, helping A24 mitigate production costs. A24 will host a presentation in Los Angeles when buyers will get the chance to see visual material, although there is unlikely to be footage given the project is in post.
Contact: A24
Get Rid Of It
Dir. Ry Russo-Young
Daisy Ridley, Sosie Bacon and Simon Rex star in a horror thriller about two sisters on a cross-country road trip. One falls pregnant after a fling with a mysterious drifter, and the sisters find themselves fighting for survival on learning the baby may not be human. David Lancaster’s Rumble Films, whose credits include Drive, Nightcrawler and Whiplash, is producing. Filming is scheduled to begin in February 2027 in Spokane, Washington. CAA Media Finance and Range Select co-rep US rights.
Contact: Upgrade (international)
Gods Don’t Give Gifts
Dir. Zack London
YouTuber London (aka Gossip Goblin) has directed the completed sci-fi fantasy set in the so-called Second Cycle of Humanity, where transhumanism has taken root and the physical limits of humanity have begun to disappear. London used AI to render his feature debut, produced by Edward Saatchi’s Amazon-backed Fable. The film will open in US cinemas on December 4 through Fable alongside Gossip Goblin, and will get an awards season push. London has 1.4 million YouTube followers and the film’s trailer has passed 15 million views since it launched in early October. AGC has scheduled a screening for buyers and London’s superfans on the first day of the market.
Contact: AGC International
Hyde
Dirs. Graham Phillips, Parker Phillips
Holt McCallany, Bruce Greenwood, Nathalie Emmanuel and David Harewood star in a thriller from Phillips Pictures and Traction about a haunted detective exploring the depths of a metropolis in search of a sadistic serial killer. The co-directors served as producers alongside Zak Kristofek and Jason Tamasco, with Cassian Elwes among the executive producers. The film is in post.
Contact: Voltage Pictures
In Tandem
Dir. Luc Walpoth
Emile Hirsch and Benjamin Norris play estranged high-school friends who try to reach the summit of a mountain without any climbing experience, only for old tensions to resurface as they struggle to return home. The survival thriller features rock climbing icons Alex Honnold (Free Solo) and Brette Harrington. Giovanni James Guidotti is producing for Giovanni Entertainment with Dwjuan Fox for Decipher Entertainment. The project is in post. WME Independent is handling domestic rights.
Contact: Ultimate Media Group (international)
The Journeyman
Dir. Angel Manuel Soto
This crime thriller starring Patrick Schwarzenegger and Leslie Grace follows a down-at-heel tennis pro who is lured into match-fixing. Puerto Rico’s Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle) will direct from a screenplay by The Roberts (husband-and-wife team Bryan and Alexis Roberts), with revisions from Ozark writer Bill Dubuque. AGC Studios produces and is fully financing.
Contact: AGC International
Katana
Dir. Jeremy Zag
Martial-arts veteran Jean-Claude Van Damme will star in the Japan-set thriller as a former champion fighter whose dark past is long behind him, but learns his daughter has been kidnapped by the Yakuza. Producers are Division Z and Japan’s Wowow Bridge, whose credits include HBO Max series Tokyo Vice. Production is scheduled to start next spring, taking in Los Angeles, Japan and France. The Veterans will show a sizzle reel at AFM; CAA Media Finance reps US.
Contact: The Veterans (international)
Moonsong: A Life In Seven Verses
Dir. Rebecca Miller
Elle Fanning will play Margaret Wise Brown, the writer of children’s classics Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny who counted socialites and authors among her lovers. The story takes place in 1930s New York and an enviable cast includes Julianne Moore, Josh Hartnett, Emma Thompson, Sally Hawkins, Danny Huston and Robert Aramayo. Miller’s screenplay is based on Leonard S Marcus’s biography Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened By The Moon. CAA Media Finance reps the US.
Contact: The Veterans (international)
Seeker
Dir. Adam Rehmeier
Cooper Tomlinson, Obsession creator Curry Barker’s longtime collaborator, will star in the mystery thriller opposite Jessica Rothe from recent Toronto hit River and Mika Abdalla from HBO Max’s The Pitt. The story is about a ride-share driver haunted by his fiancée’s disappearance five years earlier who picks up a customer he thinks was responsible for her disappearance. Alex Lebovici and Michael Learner produce for Hammerstone Studios, with Adam McKay and Todd Schulman for HyperObject Industries and Noah Centineo and Enzo Marc of Arkhum Productions. CAA is handling the US sale.
Contact: north.five.six (international)
A Speck In The Sea
Dir. Orlando Von Einsiedel
Josh Brolin and Jeremy Renner will star in the true story of Johnny Aldridge, a lobster fisherman who fell overboard in the Atlantic in the dead of night while his best friend and fishing partner Anthony slept below deck. When Anthony awakens, he instigates a multi-state rescue operation. Jeff Pope, who co-wrote Philomena, has penned the screenplay and Mark Bauch produces for One Day’s Walk with Jonathan Eirich for Rideback. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are jointly repping North American rights.
Contact: 193 (international)
Untitled Armando Iannucci project
Dir. Armando Iannucci
Iannucci will direct James McAvoy, Alicia Vikander and Taron Egerton in a conspiracy thriller that he has also written. Beyond that, little else is known publicly about the package. The UK writer/director previously collaborated with FilmNation on The Personal History Of David Copperfield starring Dev Patel. Kevin Loader is producing and has worked with Iannucci on the likes of In The Loop, The Death Of Stalin and David Copperfield. ZQ Entertainment is financing development of the package and will serve as exec producer. FilmNation is jointly repping US rights with UTA Independent Film Group.
Contact: FilmNation Entertainment (international)
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