Screen presents a selection of the buzziest projects from North America available to international buyers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival market.
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo
Dir. Takashi Miike
Japanese genre master Miike will direct Shun Oguri and Lily James in one of several spin-offs conceived by the late Ed Pressman, who produced Abel Ferrara’s original Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel in 1992. This new story has Oguri as a corrupt gambler in the Tokyo police who meets an enigmatic FBI agent looking for a politician’s missing daughter, while a Yakuza serial killer seemingly tracks their moves. Jeremy Thomas is producing for Recorded Picture Company, with Sam Pressman for Pressman Film, Naoaki Kitajima for Nippon TV and Misako Saka for OLM. Production is scheduled to begin this month.
Contact: Neon (worldwide & US distribution)
Bunker
Dir. Florian Zeller
Zeller follows up his recent films The Son and The Father, starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, with a psychological thriller. Javier Bardem is an architect who takes on an assignment to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire as his wife, played by real-life spouse Penelope Cruz, questions their marriage of 17 years. Zeller wrote the screenplay and producers are Federica Sainte-Rose of Blue Morning Pictures, Fernando Bovaira and Simon de Santiago of MOD Producciones, and Alice Dawson.
Contact: FilmNation (international); WME Independent Film Sales, CAA Media Finance (both US)
Caine
Dir. Donnie Yen
A marquee Lionsgate International slate will see Helen Lee-Kim and her team commence sales on the John Wick spin-off in which Donnie Yen reprises his role as the blind assassin, alongside Rina Sawayama as Akira. Franchise producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road will produce with Chad Stahelski of 87Eleven Entertainment. Yen will direct and production in Hong Kong is being lined up for later this year. Mattson Tomlin wrote the screenplay and Robert Askins penned an earlier draft. Lionsgate will release in the US, and distributes another Wick spin-off, Ballerina starring Ana de Armas, on June 6.
Contact: Lionsgate International (worldwide & US distribution)
The Drama
Dir. Kristoffer Borgli
A24 reunites with writer/director Borgli and Square Peg, after their 2023 satire Dream Scenario, on a new feature led by Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. The plot details are scarce at time of writing but what is known is that the story involves a romance that takes an unexpected turn before a couple’s big day. Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie also star. Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen and Tyler Campellone will produce for Square Peg, with which A24 has also collaborated on the Aster-directed Hereditary, Midsommar and upcoming Eddington, which has its world premiere in Competition at Cannes.
Contact: A24 (worldwide)
The Edge Of Normal
Dir. Carlota Pereda
Spanish director Pereda, whose slasher horror Piggy caused a stir when it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2022, here makes her English-language debut. Chloë Grace Moretz and Rupert Friend star in the tale of a woman still haunted by the time a sadist held her captive as a teenager. When her psychiatrist (Friend) asks her to mentor a newly rescued survivor, she is pulled into a game of cat-and-mouse that threatens to drag her back into the nightmare she barely escaped. XYZ Films, Vanishing Angle, Andrew Deane and Ava Jamshidi for Industry Entertainment are producing. Production is scheduled to start in Utah on May 27.
Contact: XYZ Films (worldwide); XYZ Films & CAA Media Finance (US)
The Escort
Dir. David Dobkin
Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) directs comedian Matt Rife in this film based on a Black List screenplay by Justin Adler, about a reckless, womanising flight attendant on the brink of losing everything, who is tasked with minding a neurotic 14-year-old ‘unaccompanied minor’ on his flight to boarding school. When a hurricane diverts the plane, they take a disastrous road trip that forces the pair to confront their fears, flaws, and what it really means to grow up. Production is scheduled for autumn in New England, with Tom McNulty (The Spectacular Now, Date Night) serving as producer.
Contact: Jonathan Kier, Upgrade Productions (international); UTA Independent Film Group (US)
The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping
Dir. Francis Lawrence
With a reported budget of about $150m, the YA sequel starring Jesse Plemons dangles a tantalising opportunity for international buyers. The second film in the Hunger Games prequel franchise after 2023’s $350m global hit The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes is scheduled to commence shooting this summer, helmed once again by series regular Francis Lawrence. Billy Ray adapted the screenplay from Suzanne Collins’ novel, which takes place more than two decades before events in the original Hunger Games films. The protagonist is young District 12 tribute Haymitch Abernathy, who grows up to mentor Katniss Everdeen and was portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original films. Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson produce. Lionsgate has set a US release date of November 20, 2026.
Contact: Lionsgate International (worldwide & US distribution)
I Am A Monster
Dir. Leo Berne
Saltburn’s Sadie Soverall will play Mila, a grieving 18-year-old who can see an invisible parasitic entity that feeds on human sorrow. Havana Rose Liu will portray the friend Mila enlists to help save her young sister from the malign force. Commercials director Berne directs the action fantasy, with Iconoclast’s Robert Walak and Jacob Perlin producing alongside Madants and Mid March Media. Film4 serves as executive producer and co-finances.
Contact: AGC International (international); CAA Media Finance (US)
The Mark
Dir. Justin Chadwick
Chadwick, whose credits include Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, directs the spy thriller starring Jessica Alba. Production is scheduled to begin in Australia in July on the story of an agent who uses a single father as cover while she tries to expose a network of corrupt politicians. Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier produce for Highland Film Group, with Kia Jam for K. Jam Media.
Contact: Highland Film Group (worldwide)
The Midnight Pool
Dir. James McTeigue
Aaron Paul will star in the story of a journalist lured into an exclusive society in pursuit of a career-defining story, which descends into manipulation and altered reality. V For Vendetta director McTeigue will helm from a screenplay by Jonathan Easley. Jason Tamasco and Zak Kristofek produce for Traction alongside McTeigue, and Ford Corbett and Nathan Klingher for Gramercy Park Media. Production is set to start in Europe later this year. Stoic, the fledgling company of The Exchange’s former president of worldwide distribution Nat McCormick, will introduce the project to buyers.
Contact: Stoic (international); UTA Independent Film Group, & CAA Media Finance (both US)
Photograph 51
Dir. Tom Hooper
Hooper (The King’s Speech) will direct Natalie Portman as Rosalind Franklin, the UK chemist who discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. Ben Cosgrove of Leviathan Productions and Mandy Greenfield of Red Yes Studio developed the project and are producing with Hooper and FilmNation, which is financing. FilmNation enjoyed success at the European Film Market in Berlin with its Portman and Lena Dunham project Good Sex.
Contact: FilmNation (international); FilmNation & CAA Media Finance (US)
Possum Song
Dir. Greg Kwedar
Kwedar, co-director of Sing Sing, will helm the fantastical comedy starring Miles Teller as a cocky rising Nashville star in a fix. After secretly stealing songs for his hit debut album, Eddie has a child on the way and is desperate to find inspiration for his follow-up. Naturally, he strikes a Faustian pact with a genius magical possum. Isaac Adamson wrote the screenplay and the producers are FilmNation, Kwedar, Clint Bentley, Teller and Lee Stobby.
Contact: FilmNation (international); FilmNation & CAA Media Finance (US)
Rats!
Dir. Todd Strauss-Schulson
Lionsgate International will kick off sales on this horror film about an infestation of killer rodents overwhelming New York City. Lionsgate is producing with Pitch Perfect and My Big Fat Greek Wedding producer Paul Brooks, the Gold Circle Films founder with whom the studio collaborated on 2022 horror Prey For The Devil. Strauss-Schulson (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Sado. Jason Fuchs of FiveTen Productions and Adam Fishbach of Fishbach Productions also produce.
Contact: Lionsgate International (worldwide & US distribution)
The Revisionist
Dir. Alex Vlack
Dustin Hoffman, Alison Brie, André Holland and Tom Sturridge star in this drama about a successful novelist who manipulates the people in her life into the characters required for her story, to the extent that she descends into secrets, lies and betrayal. Vlack makes his feature directorial debut on the project, which is in post and produced by Arielle Elwes, Veronica Radaelli, Fiona Robert, Sophia Robert, Zachary Spicer and Vlack.
Contact: Natasha Patrick, Palisades Park Pictures (international); WME Independent (North America)
The Riders
Dir. Edward Berger
Berger — the busy director of Conclave, who has The Ballad Of A Small Player, starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton, coming out on Netflix later this year — will helm this mystery from Scott Free and Nine Hours starring Brad Pitt. David Kajganich produces with Ridley Scott and Michael Pruss, Berger and Pitt. The screenplay is adapted from Tim Winton’s novel about an Australian expatriate preparing to settle down with his family in Ireland, who embarks on a frantic search for his missing wife. Production is scheduled to commence in Europe early next year and A24 is financing the project. Pitt will be seen later this year in Apple’s racing drama F1, which Warner Bros distributes theatrically.
Contact: A24 (worldwide)
Ruin
Dir. Niki Caro
Caro will direct Gal Gadot and Matthias Schoenaerts in a story set in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, as a recently released camp prisoner (Gadot) makes an unlikely alliance with a German soldier (Schoenaerts) in a mutual quest for revenge on a Nazi SS squad. Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo co-wrote the screenplay and the producers are Marc Butan of MadRiver Pictures, Jaron Varsano and Gadot under their Pilot Wave Motion Pictures, and Caro. Ludascripts’ Gillian Hormel and Aloe Entertainment’s Mary Aloe executive produce with the screenwriters. Principal photography is earmarked for Q1 2026.
Contact: The Veterans (international); UTA Independent Film Group, WME Independent & CAA Media Finance (both US)
Scandalous!
Dir. Colman Domingo
The talk around town is that Miramax is focusing less on in-house international sales and more on production. In this case, it has struck a deal with Patrick Wachsberger’s new outfit 193 to handle sales on Domingo’s directorial debut, starring Sydney Sweeney and Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2023 David Jonsson. The film, scripted by Matthew Fantaci, centres on the brief 1950s affair between screen legends Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr, which was doomed by racism in Hollywood and the US at large. Sweeney produces alongside Tani Cohen and Bobby Rock. Miramax retains US rights.
Contact: Charlotte Humbert, 193 (international)
The Souffleur
Dir. Gaston Solnicki
Willem Dafoe plays a hotelier at the InterContinental hotel in Vienna, who descends into paranoia when he learns the place is to be sold to an Argentinian developer. Solnicki directs the English-language dark comedy from Vienna-based Little Magnet Films, KGP Filmproduktion, Primo and Filmy Wiktora.
Contact: Austin Kennedy, Magnify (worldwide excluding Austria)
The Toxic Avenger
Dir. Macon Blair
Cannes sales godfather Patrick Wachsberger’s 193 will kick off talks on Macon Blair’s reboot of Troma Entertainment’s 1984 cult classic. Peter Dinklage stars in the tale of a mop-wielding vigilante battling freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son. Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Jacob Tremblay, Julia Davis and Taylour Paige round out the cast, and Cineverse will distribute in the US and Canada, following a deal struck with 193 co-founder Legendary Entertainment earlier this year.
Contact: Charlotte Humbert, 193 (international)
Violent Ends
Dir. John-Michael Powell
Billy Magnussen from No Time To Die plays Lucas Frost, a man raised in a notorious crime family who desperately wants to build a peaceful life with his fiancée Emma, played by Alexandra Shipp (Barbie). When a robbery involving Lucas’s cousin spirals out of control with tragic consequences, Lucas is forced back into the violent underworld he fought to leave behind. James Badge Dale and Nick Stahl also star. John-Michael Powell directs and production took place in Arkansas. Vincent Sieber-Smith (Narnia) and Undine Buka (This Land) are producers, and Cathy Fegan-Kim and Alex Kim are executive producers through their Midnight Road Entertainment, alongside Magnussen through HappyBad Bungalow. Upgrade will show first footage here in Cannes, and US buyers are understood to be circling.
Contact: Jonathan Kier, Upgrade Productions (international); UTA Independent Film Group & XYZ Films (US).
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