THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9 2012


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Scott Thomas, Fiennes reunite for Woman


BY ANDREAS WISEMAN Kristin Scott Thomas will star alongside her English Patient co- star Ralph Fiennes and Felicity Jones in anticipated period drama The Invisible Woman, which Fiennes will also direct. The UK shoot is set for April 23. WestEnd Films has taken on


international sales and will co- finance with BBC Films and the BFI. Headline Pictures (Stewart Mackinnon and Christian Baute)


Wild Bunch is back with Lou


Wild Bunch is reteaming with Chinese director Lou Ye on his latest film Mystery, a murder mystery set in modern China. “It is Ye’s first film officially


shot in China since a five-year ban,” said Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval. His ban came after making Summer Palace, set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Mystery revolves around an


investigation into the death of a young woman involved with a married businessman. Hao Lei and Qin Hao star in the film, shooting now in Wuhan. Wild Bunch has also come on


board Patrice Leconte’s first feature-length animation The Suicide Shop, the latest production from The Artist producer Thomas Langmann’s La Petite Reine, alongside Diabolo Films, ARP, Caramel Films and Entre Chien et Loup. Adapted from Jean Teulé’s


novel, the story is about a gloomy family whose suicide business is put in jeopardy by the cheerful youngest son. Maraval said: “You might not think so given the subject matter, but it could work for children as well as adults.” Other additions to the Wild


Bunch slate include Tony Krawitz’s adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’ novel Dead Europe. London and Sydney-based


See-Saw Films (Shame, The King’s Speech) are producing in association with Porchlight Films. Melanie Goodfellow


and Magnolia Mae (Gabrielle Tana) are producing. Adapted by Shame writer Abi


Morgan from Claire Tomalin’s biog- raphy, the fi lm tells the true story of the secret love affair between Charles Dickens (Fiennes) and his mistress, Nelly Ternan (Jones). Scott Thomas plays Nelly’s mother. The creative team includes cos-


tume designer Michael O’Connor and production designer Maria Djurkovic.


Ralph Fiennes Both Fiennes, who directed Ber-


linale 2011 selection Coriolanus, and Scott Thomas were Oscar- nominated for their performances as fateful lovers in Anthony Ming- hella’s 1996 epic The English Patient, which won nine Oscars. WestEnd’s EFM slate also


Kristin Scott Thomas


includes Neil Jordan’s Byzantium, Gabriele Salvatores’ Siberian Edu- cation, Catherine Hardwicke’s Knockout, starring Noomi Rapace, and Andy de Emmony’s Love Bite.


Memento bites into We Are What We Are remake


BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW Stake Land director Jim Mickle will sink his teeth into an English- language remake of cult cannibal picture We Are What We Are for Paris-based Memento Films Inter- national (MFI). Mickle will transpose Jorge


Michel Grau’s picture, about a fam- ily of cannibals, from its original


setting of Mexico City to the Cat- skills region in New York State. Principal photography starts in June. “It is a cool challenge to do justice to Jorge’s story, but also explore things from an unexpected angle,” said Mickle, who is writing the script with Nick Damici. Andrew Corkin of New York- based Uncorked Productions


(Martha Marcy May Marlene, Afterschool) and Bolivian director- producer Rodrigo Bellott (Sexual Dependency) are producing, along- side MFI’s Nicholas Shumaker and Linda Moran, as well as René Bastian of Belladonna Produc- tions, who produced Mickle’s fi rst two films. Memento’s Nicholas Kaiser is a co-producer.


China, Hong Kong, India, Indone- sia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philip- pines, Taiwan and Thailand. Sony Pictures Worldwide


Exclusive takes on Robot & Frank The Park Pictures Features pro-


BY WENDY MITCHELL Exclusive Media has acquired international rights in all media to Jake Schreier’s Sundance hit Robot & Frank. Frank Langella stars as a retired jewel thief who has a care- taker robot.


duction has been acquired by Exclusive Media for territories including Germany, France, Japan, Benelux, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Greece, Iceland, Por- tugal, Turkey, Israel, Middle East,


Independent adds Sundance hits


BY WENDY MITCHELL Independent is continuing its col- laboration with Cinetic by taking on two hot titles from Sundance: Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly’s time-travel comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, and Alison Klayman’s documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, about the Chinese artist.


Safety Not Guaranteed, which


won the Waldo Salt screenwriting prize in Park City, stars Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. Film- District has US rights. The Ai doc won a special jury prize in Sun- dance and screens here in Berlinale Special. Independent will work with Cinetic on world sales for both titles.


Acquisitions has rights in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and Russia as previously announced; while Momentum Pictures has acquired UK and Ireland. SPWA and Sam- uel Goldwyn Fi lms jointly acquired North America. The fi lm will screen here at the


EFM on Sunday and Monday. Exclusive will also start sales


here on Hammer Films’ The Quiet Ones. John Pogue will write and direct the story of students trying to create a poltergeist, and James Gay-Rees (Senna) will produce.


BREAKING NEWS Jason Statham will star in Brian De Palma’s remake of 1986’s Heat, which Sierra/Affinity is selling.


Cohen Entertainment Group has taken US rights from Elle Driver to festival opener Farewell My Queen.


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Gaumont lifts lid on EFM titles


BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW Gaumont is set to unveil a slew of titles at the EFM, in addition to continuing sales on Culinary Cin- ema opener The Chef starring Jean Reno, which has sold to Germany (Senator), Canada (Remstar) and Japan (Gaga). Among these is Jérome Enrico’s


comedy Paulette, starring Berna- dette Lafont as a grandmother who sells drugs to make ends meet. Gaumont’s Cécile Gaget describes the currently shooting fi lm as “Sav- ing Grace meets Weeds”. Gaumont will also start sales on


Franck Gastambide’s comedy Porn In The Hood, as well as Edgar Marie’s thriller Paris Countdown, starring Jacques Gamblin and Olivier Marchal as nightclub own- ers with a violent past. Gaget will also unveil Luis Prie-


to’s UK remake of Nicolas Wind- ing Refn’s Pusher at a private screening tomorrow. The slate also includes Anne


Fontaine’s The Grandmothers, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s T.S. Spivet, Carine Tardieu’s The Dandelions and Winding Refn’s Only God For- gives, which is currently shooting.


Harlin climbs mountain thriller


Renny Harlin will direct an as-yet- untitled thriller set in Russia’s Ural Mountains for Alexander Rodnyansky’s AR Films. The fact-based film is about


contemporary students who set out to investigate a series of


mysterious climbing deaths that took place in 1959. Producers are Rodnyansky, Kia


Jam, Harlin and Sergei Bespalov, with Aldamisa International on board for sales.


Wendy Mitchell Arnold Schwarzenegger


FEATURES All abuzz Screen previews the market’s hottest titles, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone in Summit’s The Tomb. » PAGE 28


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