The company has launched two projects in 2025: Dylan Southern’s The Thing With Feathers and Searchlight Pictures’ The Roses
Need to know: SunnyMarch was co-founded by Benedict Cumberbatch and Adam Ackland after the actor and assistant director bonded on the Romania set of 2008 BBC miniseries The Last Enemy. Initial projects – beginning with 2013 short Little Favour – tended to include a suitable role for Cumberbatch, but the scope has expanded.
The producer duo became a trio with the arrival of Leah Clarke in 2018, and Studiocanal gave backing in exchange for a first look at TV projects. This year, SunnyMarch has had Searchlight Pictures’ The Roses ($51m global box office) and Sundance-launched, Film4-backed The Thing With Feathers. Previous successes include We Live In Time, The Mauritanian and Edward Berger-directed TV miniseries Patrick Melrose.
Key personnel: Adam Ackland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Leah Clarke, producers; Louisa Skalla, development executive; Ruth Sweeney, creative executive.
Incoming: Gearing up for a 2026 shoot with Searchlight Pictures is cross-continent chase film Rogue Male. It is adapted from Geoffrey Household’s 1939 thriller novel, scripted by Hunter Andrews (Wasteman), directed by Bart Layton and starring Cumberbatch.
Also in development is environmental thriller Migrations, adapted from Australian author Charlotte McConaghy’s 2020 book, starring Claire Foy. SunnyMarch is working Babyteeth director Shannon Murphy and writer Rita Kalnejais and partnering with Anonymous Content. Upcoming is Ibiza-set The Life Impossible, adapted by Philippa Goslett from Matt Haig’s 2024 novel, on which it is reteaming with FilmNation after 2020’s The Courier.
Leah Clarke says: “We build projects for actors. We try to pair them with material or hear what they’d like to see in their future. We’re committed to younger filmmakers and supporting people coming up in the industry to take a big swing. [Dylan Southern’s] The Thing With Feathers, [Will Sharpe’s] The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain and [Mahalia Belo’s] The End We Start From are big, ambitious films, and we want to facilitate that as much as we can.”
Adam Ackland says: “We’re so lucky to do what we do – it’s an amazing job. There’s definitely been some ugliness in the industry, and we’ve been quite passionate about getting rid of that and not having any of that. Cinema is an incredible thing. It’s escapism, and it emotes in so many different ways. We want to carry on giving that to audiences, but doing it in the best way possible.”
Contact: info@sunnymarch.com
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