Mubi Swoops For Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird‘
Mubi has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Bird, the Andrea Arnols feature that is getting its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Written and directed by Arnold, the pic stars Barry Keoghan (Banshees of Inisherin, Saltburn), Franz Rogowski (Passages, Great Freedom), and newcomers Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda. The plot follows a 12-year-old girl, Bailey, who lives with her dad and brother in a squat in north Kent in southern England. As her dad has little time for his kids, Bailey seeks attention and adventure elsewhere. BBC Studios-owned House Productions made the film, which was shot in the UK around the Kent area. Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Lee Groombridge are the producers. Financiers include BBC Film, the BFI through National Lottery funding), Pinky Promise, FirstGen Content and Access Entertainment. Cornerstone is handling international sales and distribution, striking the deal with Mubi. It is co-repping a U.S. sale with CAA Media Finance.
‘Giant‘: First Look At Sports Drama Starring Pierce Brosnan & Amir El-Masry
Below is a first-look image for Giant, the sports drama about the life of British-Yemeni boxing champion Prince Naseem ‘Naz’ Hamed. Amir El-Masry plays the fighter, known for his cocky in-ring behavior and extreme punching power, with Pierce Brosnan playing his Irish-born boxing trainer Brendan Ingle (Brosnan). Production is currently underway in Leeds, UK, with Rowan Athale (The Rise, Gangs of London) directing his own script. Picture is financed by AGC Studios and BondIt Media Capital, with Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions, Kevin Sampson of White Star Productions and Stuart Ford, AGC Studios Chairman and CEO producing. Zygi Kamasa’s True Brit Entertainment has taken UK distribution rights with AGC International handling international sales on the title. Zamasa is an exec producer alongside Sylvester Stallone and Braden Aftergood of Balboa Productions, AGC Studios’ Miguel Palos, Zach Garrett and Anant Tamirisa, BondIt’s Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor and Tyler Gould, and Michael Ewing. Brosnan is represented by CAA, Viewpoint and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox. El-Masry is represented by Independent Talent Group and Rowan Athale is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment and 42. EVP of Legal & Business Affairs Anant Tamirisa is representing AGC Studios on the project.
Disney+ Sets ‘Breslau’ As First CEE Original
Disney+ has put its first CEE original, Breslau (working title), into production. The eight-part drama, set in Poland in 1936, tells the story of police commissioner Franz Podolsky, who investigates a brutal murder with a pressure to catch the killer heightened by the upcoming Olympic Games. Cast will include Tomasz Schuchardt (Jesteś Bogiem, Chrzest), Agata Kulesza (Róża, Ida) and Sandra Drzymalska (EO, Filip). Leszek Dawid (Jesteś Bogiem, Ki) is the director and Bartosz Janiszewski and Magdalena Żakowska are writing. Wahata maker ATM Grupa, the largest indie production studio in Poland, is producing with financial support granted by the Polish Film Institute from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. “This is an important moment for Disney+ in Poland,” said Magdalena Cieslak, Director Original Productions Disney+ in CEE. “It’s our first Original production in Central and Eastern Europe and we are excited that such talented, and experienced creators and actors are working on the project.”
J. Smith-Cameron & Mark Rylance In ‘Juno And The The Paycock
Succession‘s J. Smith-Cameron and Academy Award winner Mark Rylance will star in Sonia Friedman Productions’ Juno and the Paycock. Tony award-nominee Smith-Cameron will star as Juno Boyle, with Rylance playing ‘Captain’ Jack Boyle in a new production of Seán O’Casey’s story, which is set for a strictly limited run at the Gielgud Theatre in London from Thursday, October 3. Matthew Warchus is directing. Sonia Friedman, Warchus and Rylance previously collaborated on Boeing-Boeing and La Bête. Set during the Irish Civil War in 1922, the plot follows a beleaguered matriarch with a sharp wit who struggles to make ends meet and keep the family together. Previews will be held from September 21 and the run will last until Saturday, November 23. The creative team includes Rob Howell (Set and Costume Designer), Hugh Vanstone (Lighting Designer), Claire van Kampen (Composer) and Serena Hill CDG (Casting Director).
Magnificent Films Launching British Horrors — Cannes Market
EXCLUSIVE: UK production house will hit the Croisette with a pair of horror features. Bogieville comes from actor and director Sean Cronin, and is being marketed as “a southern fried vampire thriller” in which young couple on the run come across the eponymous derelict American trailer park, where they soon learn that the residents are a pack of blood-thirsty vampires. Indonesian actor Arifin Putra (The Raid 2) and Eloise Lovell Anderson (Villain) star, along with Cronin as the lead vampire. Drained will follow jobless post-graduate concept artist Thomas in the neon-soaked streets of London, who falls in love with a mysterious woman who turns out to be a vampire. As their twisted romance unfolds, Thomas’s health deteriorates, and he spirals out of control. Cronin is the co-director alongside Peter Stylianou from a script by the latter. Ruaridh Aldington and Madalina Bellariu star Ion as the ill-fated couple, with supporting cast including Craig Conway (Dog Soldiers), Angela Dixon (Never Let Go), Natasha Patel (The Witcher: Blood Origin) and Andrew Lee Potts (Band of Brothers). Cronin’s Magnificent Films produced both, collaborating with Silent D Pictures on Bogieville and House 54 and Red Guerrilla Films on Drained. See first look images here.
ITV Studios Adds Diversity Label Signpost
The network production arm of UK producer Signpost Productions is joining ITV Studios , where it will be housed under Come Dine With Me maker MultiStory Media. The unit, which is known for shows such as he BBC’s Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes and TNT Sport’s Deaf Away Days, will now be known as Signpost Entertainment and be will be led by Creative Director Gareth Deighan, who will report into MultiStory Media’s CEO Tim Carter and Chief Creative Officer, Ana de Moraes. The two labels will work together to find opportunities that “combine diverse story-telling and scaled-up production.” Signpost Productions will remain a part of ITV Studios parent ITV, and will continue to work with Signpost Entertainment on developing a talent pipeline under the existing Signpost Academy banner.
