Cannes 2023: the buzz titles from North America

Hyde Park International arrives with Night Boat To Tangier by James Marsh (The Theory Of Everything); Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Negga star. Kevin Barry adapted the screenplay from his novel of the same name about Irish gangster pals Maurice and Charlie who go to Spain, revisit old haunts and old flames, and look for Maurice’s estranged daughter. Andrew Eaton produces for Turbine Studios with Conor McCaughan for DMC Film alongside Spanish co-producer Mogambo.

Lionsgate International will be talking up Good Fortune, which Aziz Ansari will direct and star in alongside Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen. The plot remains under wraps. The slate includes Renny Harlin’s The Strangers trilogy, based on the 2008 horror franchise and starring Rachel Shenton, Madelaine Petsch, Ema Horvath, Gabriel Basso and Froy Gutierrez. Alan R Cohen and Alan Freedland wrote the script and production has wrapped in Slovakia.

AGC Studios arrives on the Croisette with sci-fi They Found Us from Neill Blomkamp, with whom the company collaborated on pandemic production Demonic. Joel Kinnaman (from AGC’s just-wrapped The Silent Hour) will star in the story of a man and his estranged daughter who are abducted by aliens while on a camping trip. Production is scheduled for Australia in October. AGC is fully financing and Temple Hill Entertainment produces. The slate includes upcoming domestic terror thriller The Order starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan.

XYZ Films arrives with Directors’ Fortnight selection In Flames from Zarrar Kahn. The Urdu-language Canada-Pakistan horror film follows a young woman and her mother battling evil forces after the family patriarch dies. Xavier Gens (Hitman) is lining up The Guns Of Christmas Past with Liev Schreiber in talks to star as an assassin whose former best friend and partner is killed. Andrew Hilton wrote the screenplay and XYZ Films is producing and financing with investment from partner IPR.VC. Production is scheduled for later this year.

FilmNation will kick off talks on Vendome Pictures’ action sequel Lords Of War. Nicolas Cage reprises his role as gunrunner Orlov who now faces off against his son, played by Bill Skarsgard. CAA Media Finance handles US rights. The slate includes Sebastian Lelio’s Voyagers starring Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones in the true story of the romance between astronomers Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.

Magnolia Pictures International will be in talks with buyers on Rodrigo Moreno’s Un Certain Regard selection The Delinquents, which sees two bank clerks planning to rob their workplace. Argentina’s Wanka Cine produced with Les Films Fauves (Luxembourg), Sancho & Punta (Brazil), Jirafa Films (Chile), Jaque Content (Argentina) and Rizoma (Argentina) as co-producers.

The Solution Entertainment Group handles sales on Liam Neeson’s return as big-rig ice-road driver Mike McCann in Ice Road 2 — Road To The Sky from Code Entertainment, ShivHans and EMA. Jonathan Hensleigh returns to direct from his script, which sees McCann fighting Nepalese mercenaries during a trip to scatter his brother’s ashes over Everest. Production is earmarked for Q1 2024.

Arclight Films will launch talks on Mercy Road, the completed psychological thriller from John Curran (Chappaquiddick) about a man on a journey of redemption that stars Luke Bracey, Susie Porter, Huw Higginson and Toby Jones. The company also has CK Films’ comedy Arthur’s Whisky, which recently wrapped shooting in England and follows a widow who, along with her friends, drinks an elixir created by her late husband. Diane Keaton, Patricia Hodge, Lulu, David Harewood and Boy George star, and Stephen Cookson (Stanley: A Man Of Variety) directed.

Highland Film Group will be talking up action title Gunner starring Morgan Freeman and Luke Hemsworth about a Special Ops veteran whose boys are kidnapped when they stumble on a drug-running operation during a fishing trip. Dimitri Logothetis (Jiu Jitsu) directs from a screenplay by The Fast And The Furious creator Gary Scott Thompson and production recently wrapped in Alabama. HFG’s slate includes survival thriller The Ridge starring Billy Magnussen (No Time To Die), who also makes his directorial debut. Mandalay Pictures is producing and principal photography is scheduled for later this year in the US. CAA Media Finance represents US rights.

Voltage Pictures will be talking up Kalahari, an action thriller which Vertical fully financed. Ryan Phillippe, Emile Hirsch and Mena Suvari star, and Mukunda Michael Dewil (Collide) directs the story of a young missionary couple and a corrupt smuggler pilot who flee a militant group and crash-land in an animal reserve populated by wild beasts. The Barnum Picture Company and Green Light Pictures produce the film, which is in post.

Red Sea Media arrives with Dead Man’s Hand, an action western starring Cole Hauser, Stephen Dorff and Jack Kilmer, which screens in the market. Brian Skiba directed the story of a newly married gunfighter whose hopes of a quiet life are dashed when he kills a bandit in self-defence — incurring the wrath of the man’s corrupt mayor brother.

Montreal-based Sphere Films International will start talks on two new titles. Reem Morsi directed Queen Tut (in English and Arabic with English subtitles), which stars Ryan Ali and Alexandra Billings in the story of an Egyptian teenager who leaves Cairo when his mother dies, and becomes a drag artist in Toronto. Pascal Plante’s cyber-thriller Red Rooms (Les Chambres Rouges) centres on a tech-savvy overachiever who becomes obsessed with the high-profile trial of a serial killer. Juliette Gariépy and Maxwell McCabe-Lokos (Station Eleven) star.

Great Escape brings Yale Productions’ Fog Of War starring John Cusack, Brianna Hildebrand (Deadpool), Jake Abel (Malignant), Geza Rohrig (Son Of Saul) and Mira Sorvino. The story follows an injured pilot and his intelligence operative girlfriend who battle undercover political opponents on the home front as the fate of the Second World War hangs in the balance.

Visit Films arrives with Year Of The Fox, a drama from Megan Griffiths (Lucky Them, Eden) written by Eliza Flug about a biracial teen navigating Aspen’s elite party circuit during her adoptive parents’ bitter divorce. Sarah Jeffery (Descendants), Jane Adams (Hacks), Jake Weber (Those Who Wish Me Dead) and Balthazar Getty (Twin Peaks) star.

Raven Banner will be talking up John Pata’s completed psychedelic horror Black Mold, which stars Agnes Albright from True Detective and Andrew Bailes as friends who enjoy sneaking around abandoned buildings only to get trapped in a facility by a volatile threat.

MPX handles worldwide sales on UK-set dramatic comedy Bolan’s Shoes featuring Timothy Spall and Leanne Best in a tale spanning the height of fame for glam-rock band T Rex and what would have been frontman Marc Bolan’s 75th birthday decades later. Ian Puleston-Davies directs production firm Buffalo Dragon’s celebration of 1970s culture.

Cinema Management Group brings Buffalo Kids, the animated adventure from 4 Cats Pictures, Atresmedia Cine, Anangu Grup and Mogambo featuring a voice cast of Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical), Gemma Arterton, Sean Bean and Stephen Graham. Juan Jesus Garcia Galocha and Pedro Solis Garcia co-direct the story of two Irish orphans newly arrived in New York who go in search of their uncle in California. CMG is also hosting the market-premiere screening of The Canterville Ghost, voiced by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Freddie Highmore.

Bleiberg Entertainment will be introducing buyers to People Not Places starring Shirley MacLaine and Stephen Dorff from director Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer). Scheduled to shoot in October in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the film follows a wily woman in her twilight years who strikes up an unlikely bond with a homeless man.

Cohen Media Group handles sales on documentary Merchant Ivory from Modernist Film in association with Cohen. The film chronicles the professional and personal relationships between the directing/producing team of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant (A Room With A View, The Remains Of The Day, Howards End) and their primary associates, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Stephen Soucy directs and the film features Merchant Ivory collaborators such as Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant.

Yellow Veil Pictures has So Unreal, an essay documentary narrated by Blondie’s Debbie Harry that investigates how cyberspace cinema from 1981-2001 — including The Matrix, Tron and eXistenZ — expressed humanity’s fear of technology towards the end of the last millennium. Amanda Kramer directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Britt Brown. In post.

Myriad Pictures has The Removalists in pre-production. Abbie Cornish, Bryan Brown and Rena Owen star in the Pointblank Pictures feature about a respected police chief on the eve of retirement forced to relive his disastrous first day on the job. Craig Monahan will direct from a screenplay he adapted with Australian playwright and screenwriter David Williamson (Balibo, Gallipoli) from the latter’s 1971 stage play of the same name.

Premiere Entertainment Group will be talking up American High and LD Entertainment’s Sid Is Dead in which a high-school senior creates a bucket list before the bully he got suspended returns to school. Eli Gonda directs from a script by Peter Warren. Vertical Entertainment holds North American rights.

The Exchange brings documentary The White Mountain, about a skier and mountain-rescue team member who bear witness to the impact of climate change on Mont Blanc. Luke Wiles (The Life Of Earth) and Gwyn Williams (National Geographic’s Lost Treasures Of Egypt) are co-directors and Malcolm Wood produces. The Exchange is a co-financier. In post.

Blue Fox Entertainment arrives with Maximum Truth, a satirical comedy from Crossroad Productions and 23/34 Productions about a documentary film crew following political grifter Rick Klingman (Ike Barinholtz) as he teams up with fellow operative Simon (Dylan O’Brien) to take down a rival congressional candidate. David Stassen directs and co-wrote the script with Barinholtz. QC Entertainment financed and executive produced, and Momentum Pictures holds North American rights.

FilmSharks arrives with horror sci-fi Pacific (Pacifico) in which travellers stranded on an island must escape an ancient evil. Gonzalo Gutierrez directs a cast led by Manolo Cardona (Undertow, Who Killed Sara?) and Maria Gabriela de Faria; the project is in post. La Dalia Films and Persons Films’ crime thriller The Forgotten Killings (Olvido), directed by Inés Paris, takes place during the 1957 Valencia flood and stars Maria Caballero (Tiempo Después) and Morgan Blasco (Fishbone). In post.

Epic Pictures brings Wonderwell, a completed coming-of-age fantasy set between real life and an imaginary realm, as a 12-year-old girl on a trip to Italy must find her way home. The late Carrie Fisher, Rita Ora, Kiera Milward and Nell Tiger Free star. Vlad Marsavin directed from a screenplay by William Brookfield.

The Coven will start talks on psychological horror She’s Not Gone, set to star Angela Sarafyan (Westworld) and Shohreh Aghdashloo (House Of Sand And Fog). Micky Levy, who wrote Rails And Ties, will direct the story about a woman who must battle her demonic inheritance and untangle her mother’s secretive past to save herself and two young children. Virginie Lacombe and Florent Lamy of Elevate Artists Management, and Narineh Hacopian are producing.

Grandave International has the mystery drama Wild Berries in post. Soudabeh Moradian (Polaris) directs Shahab Hosseini — winner of the Cannes best actor award in 2016 for The Salesman — alongside Sepideh Moafi (The Killing Of Two Lovers) in the story of an immigrant Iranian couple’s annual road trip on their wedding anniversary who are followed by a stranger.

Mind The Gap Productions brings narrative feature Guillotine, Ray Izad-Mehr’s exploration of the role played by the notorious killing machine throughout history. Sean Young (Blade Runner, No Way Out) narrates the film. Ozon Films produced in co-operation with Throne.

Entertainment Squad arrives with #chadgetstheaxe from The Horror Collective and Gorilla Tree Film Co, in which social-media influencers livestream their trip to the former home of a satanic cult. Travis Bible directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kemerton Hargrove.

Storyboard Media will kick off talks with international buyers on The Gun On Second Street starring Poppy Delevingne, about a police officer who falls in love with the widow of the partner he accidentally killed years earlier. Rohit Karn Batra directs. Ransom Films is producing and casting was ongoing as Screen International went to press. Storyboard is also selling worldwide rights on Jean Shim’s drama A Great Divide starring Ken Jeong, Jae Suh Park and Emerson Min about a Korean-American family that encounters racist hate after moving from San Francisco’s Bay Area to rural Wyoming amid pandemic lockdowns.

Film Mode will be talking up horror mystery All My Friends Are Dead about close pals who rent a home for a weekend festival and start to die one by one. Marcus Dunstan is directing Jade Pettyjohn and JoJo Siwa. The slate includes horror thriller Unseen from Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska, which is casting and centres on an experimental test on a blind woman that goes awry.

Jackrabbit Media will be kicking off talks on female-driven comedy Sick Girl from Jennifer Cram about a woman whose desire for change leads to a small lie that spirals out of control. Nina Dobrev, Brandon Mychal Smith and Sherry Cola star in the completed film from Where­abouts Unknown.

Sublimity Entertainment brings crime thriller Detained starring Abbie Cornish, Laz Alonso, Moon Bloodgood and Justin H Min. The completed feature from Kinogo Pictures centres on an enigmatic woman who wakes up inside a dilapidated police station, where she becomes involved in the death of a police officer and another detainee. Felipe Mucci directed and co-wrote with Jeremy Palmer.

Lon Haber & Co is pushing the completed comedy thriller About Him & Her starring Callan McAuliffe and Cristina Spruell in the romantic tale of two strangers who meet after they connect accidentally over the phone. Ice Mrozek directs and Independence Hall, Dax Phelan and Uri Singer produce.