Wild Bunch comes on board for Cassavetes' Yellow, with new backing

Wild Bunch will handle international sales for Nick Cassavetes’ Yellow, which is set to start shooting again in December. The film had encountered some financial woes in October, which Deadline.com reported at the time.

However, Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval now tells Screen that Cassavetes “has found a solution” with a private American equity partner and that the project is up and running and up for sale at the AFM.

In a rather poignant twist, Cassavetes’ wife, Heather Wahlquist, stars in the film which could be described as a sort of lighter version of A Woman Under The Influence — in which Cassavetes’ mother, Gena Rowlands, starred for his father, John Cassavetes.

According to Maraval, who has seen the rushes that were already shot, the film is a portrait of a woman who is fighting not to succumb to a drug-induced psychological illness. “The start of the film is almost comedic,” Maraval tells Screen. But, “then you start to realise that her life is a fantasy.” Adding to the emotional base of the film is the fact that Rowlands - who is Wahlquist’s mother-in-law in real life and who starred in A Woman Under The Influence - plays the part of the lead character’s grandmother.

Yellow was initially planned to be ready for Sundance, but Maraval now says the film is eyeing Cannes. Also among the star-studded cast are Sienna Miller, Melanie Griffith, Luke Wilson and Ben Foster.