’47 Meters Down’ Threequel ‘The Wreck’ Launching At Cannes Market For Byron Allen, Tea Shop & FilmNation; Patrick Lussier To Direct Johannes Roberts & Ernest Riera’s Script

EXCLUSIVE: Following a multi-buyer tug of war, horror movie The Monkey, the adaptation of the Stephen King short story, is heading to Neon for domestic here at the Cannes market.

EXCLUSIVE: Riverdale and Hustlers star Lili Reinhart is set to lead mystery thriller American Sweatshop, whose producers include Oscar winner Barry Levinson (Rain Man) and acclaimed American showrunner Tom Fontana (Oz) who will be producing his first feature.

Alex Ritman Genre filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig (Lionsgate’s “Jigsaw”) are set to direct “Fall 2,” the second installment in the “Fall” franchise. Scott Mann, who directed and co-wrote the first film, is returning to co-write with Jonathan Frank. Following the hugely successful survival thriller “Fall,” released in 2022 by Lionsgate, “Fall 2” — set to start production in June — will reunite producers Mark Lane and James Harris of Tea Shop Prods.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Viola Davis, Joy Reid and Charlamagne tha God are among partners backing ALTR, a personal development and learning subscription app slated to launch later in 2024 that will feature short-form audiobooks by Black cultural icons and authors. New York-based ALTR was co-founded by CEO David A.

Alex Ritman Having starred in only his first Western films in the last few years with ‘The Old Way’ and ‘Butcher’s Crossing,’ Nicolas Cage is doubling down on the genre, having teamed up with Heather Graham (“Austin Powers”) and Stephen Dorff (“True Detective”) for “The Gunslingers.” Costas Mandylor (“Saw”), Scarlet Stallone (“Tulsa King”), Tzi Ma (“The Farewell”), and Randall Batinkoff (“Dead Man’s Hand”) also star in the film, which is being launched in Cannes with Brilliant Pictures handling international sales. Grindstone has U.S. rights to the film.

EXCLUSIVE: We can tell you that James Franco and Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones are leading the action thriller The Razor’s Edge from producer Corey Large (Paradise City, It Follows, The November Man) and filmmaker Demian Lichtenstein (3000 Miles to Graceland).

Ed Harris (Appaloosa, Pollock) will direct his own adaptation of Kim Zupan’s 2014 novel The Ploughmen with Owen Teague, Nick Nolte, and Bill Murray signed on to star. 

EXCLUSIVE: Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood, Daredevil) is set to star in horror-thriller The Cycle, which will be launched for sales at the Cannes market by The Exchange.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film is gearing up for a 6% hike in attendance with numbers expected to hit close to 15,000 participants, according to projections revealed by executive director Guillaume Esmiol in the run-up to its opening Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Phillippe (Shooter) and Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) are leading thriller The Patient, which is launching in the Cannes market with International Film Trust.

EXCLUSIVE: On the eve of the Cannes market, Westbrook Studios and AGC Studios have set Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, known for directing Without Remorse, Sicario: Day of the Soldado and hit series Gomorrah, to helm big-budget action-thriller Sugar Bandits.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has signed with Neopol Film to handle international sales for their upcoming creature horror thriller, “Paws.” Featuring polar bear creature animatronics from the renowned studio behind “Star Wars” and “Jurassic World,” the film tells the story of a climate researcher stranded in the Arctic who must forge an unlikely alliance with a polar bear in order to survive. The project will feature a stellar international cast, yet to be announced.

EXCLUSIVE: Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions is joining Alexander Rodnyansky’s AR Content to produce Beanpole helmer Kantemir Balagov’s first English-language film Butterfly Jam. Goodfellas is set to launch sales on the project in Cannes next week. 

EXCLUSIVE: Nicolas Cage, FKA Twigs, Noah Jupe and Souheila Yacoub are set to star in Egyptian-American director Lotfy Nathan’s The Carpenter’s Son exploring the rarely told story of the childhood of Jesus with a horror take.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China- and Netherlands-based sales firm Fortissimo Films has picked up the international rights to new Chinese sports feature film “Wild Punch.” It will launch the film in territories outside mainland China next week at the Cannes Market. Co-directed by well-established director Yu Lik-wai and Wang Jing (“The Best Is Yet to Come”), “Wild Punch is a sports and action drama about a top mixed martial arts athlete who has passed the peak of his career and faces competition from his young and gifted trainee. Both with something to prove, the two will have to face each other in the ring. Yu has directed four feature films, including Cannes competition title “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and Venice title “Plastic City.” He is also well-established as a cinematographer who has worked on films including “Still Life,” “A Touch of Sin,” and “Mountains May Depart” by Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye’s “Love and Bruises” and Ann Hui’s “A Simple Life.” “Wild Punch” is produced by Momo Pictures, the subsidiary of the NASDAQ-listed Zhiwen Group, which is best-known for its Momo instant messaging mobile application.

Byron Allen‘s Allen Media Group said it is cutting costs and will be laying off employees.

Byron Allen‘s Allen Media Group confirmed Thursday that it is undergoing layoffs as part of strategic changes at the media company “to better position the company for growth.”

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Swindell, a former pro skater who is set to be the central subject of a forthcoming skating biopic from MindRiot Entertainment, has signed with The BKS Agency in London. 

Simon Curtis’ upcoming comedy Encore, about a group of veteran actors whose passion for their profession is reignited through a retirement home production, has gathered a quartet of Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy winning stars for the ensemble cast.

EXCLUSIVE: Film finance and sales company Concourse Media has acquired international rights to the psychological period thriller Long Shadows and will launch sales at the upcoming Cannes market.