Christina Hendricks to Lead Psychological Thriller ‘Reckoner,’ XYZ Films to Launch Sales in Cannes

Martin Scorsese unveiled “Killers of the Flower Moon” at Cannes on Saturday, debuting a sweeping American epic about greed and exploitation on the bloody plains of an Osage Nation reservation in 1920s Oklahoma.

The stars of Killers of the Flower Moon are stepping out for their movie’s premiere!

Martin Scorsese’s anticipated epic Killers of the Flower Moon just had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where the audience gave the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone a nine-minute standing ovation.

As Sanctuary, Zachary Wigon’s twisted tale of a dominatrix and her wealthy client, opens in NY and LA, David Lancaster of producer Rumble Films recalls a speedy 18-day shoot on a custom-made set in Brownsville, Brooklyn in late summer of 2021. It was Covid, so not the easiest time for indie financing.

EXCLUSIVE: Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Troy Kotsur (CODA) have been cast as leads in crime thriller In Cold Light which will mark the English-language debut of French-Canadian director Maxime Giroux (Felix And Meira).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent REInvent has closed a French deal on “The Angel Maker,” a psychological thriller starring a top Nordic cast including Julie R. Ølgaard (“The Killing”), Roland Møller (“Riders of Justice”), Christopher Læssø (“The Bridge”) and Stine Stengade (“Those Who Kill”). The banner has sold the film to Koba Films in France and will be hosting a market screening at Cannes on the 18th. “The Angel Maker” tells the story of crime detective Laura who is specialized within cybercrime. Laura is on sick leave with a psychosis after a birth depression and by coincidence she stumbles upon a case with a beastly serial killer which piques her interest and she decides that it is time for her to return to her job as a crime detective.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Well Go USA Entertainment has taken North American distribution rights to “Mercy Road,” a new psychological thriller from Arclight Films. The film stars Australian actor Luke Bracey, who was most recently seen in Baz Lurhman’s “Elvis” and the re-make of “Point Break.” “Mercy Road” follows a flawed everyman who commits an impulsive and vicious crime. In this ultimate journey to redemption, he discovers how far he is willing to go to save his child.   It was written and directed by John Curran, the director of such acclaimed dramas as “Chappaquiddick” and “The Painted Veil.”  Chris Pelletier and Jesse Heffring penned the script. Susie Porter (“Cargo”) and Huw Higginson (“The Nightingale”) co-star with Toby Jones (“Poor Cow”). Well Go USA will release “Mercy Road” in late 2023. 

EXCLUSIVE: Eddie Izzard, Antonia Thomas, and John Hannah have joined Emile Hirsch in the psychological thriller Past Life from director and Grimmfest head Simeon Halligan.

EXCLUSIVE: Benedict Cumberbatch has signed to star in Dylan Southern’s adaptation of Max Porter’s acclaimed novel Grief is the Thing With Feathers about a father and his two young sons dealing with the sudden death of their wife and mother.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Andrew Cumming’s Stone Age thriller “The Origin” from Sony Pictures’ Stage 6. World premiering at the BFI London Film Festival in October, “The Origin” won acclaim for its unique approach to genre set in the Palaeolithic period. The script was written by Ruth Greenberg (“Run”) with Escape Plan Prods.’ Oliver Kassman (“Saint Maud”) producing. The pic was nominated for five British Independent Film Awards, with a win for breakthrough performance for Safia Oakley-Green. Bleecker Street is planning a fall-winter 2023 theatrical release.

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Esai Morales is in negotiations to star in the action thriller Shadow, which XYZ Films has boarded and will introduce to buyers this week in Cannes.

EXCLUSIVE: British genre specialist Tea Shop, known for 47 Meters Down and coming off breakout thriller Fall, is lining up its next survival pic in the shape of The Bayou, which Architect is launching for sales in Cannes.

EXCLUSIVE: Isabelle Huppert (Elle) and Finn Wittrock (Luckiest Girl Alive) have closed deals to star in Free Radicals, an English-language home invasion thriller based on the same-name short story originally published in The New Yorker by Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy nominee Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) and Oscar nominee John C. Reilly (Chicago) are set to lead timely Cannes market package Dreamquil, an AI thriller which HanWay Films is launching.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ulrich Thomsen (“”Festen,” “Banshee”), Rasmus Hammerich (“On My Mind”), Ida Marie Nielsen (“Vikings”) and Diêm Camille (“Washington Black”) are set to headline “Ripple,” a graduation film by promising new director Joey Moe and producer Jasmin Jiramani. Jiramani recently delivered the Star Wars fan film “Shrouded Destiny: A Star Wars Long Tale” starring Lars Mikkelsen, who has also been in the Disney+ Star Wars series “Ahsoka.”  Moe and Jiramani, who are both students of the prestigious Danish film school Super8, said “Ripple” explores why people spend so much time obsessing over macabre true crime tales.

Letitia Wright is stepping into the ring for In the Shadows, a drama based on the true story of Ramla Ali, the first Somali British professional boxing champion. 

Naman Ramachandran Principal photography has commenced on Adam MacDonald’s survival thriller “Out Come the Wolves.” The feral feature, which will be shot on location in Dundas, Ontario throughout May, follows the story of a woman who takes her fiancé to a secluded cabin to meet her best male friend, before things take a dark turn during a hunting trip. The film is represented for international by Altitude Film Sales, who will be discussing the film with buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. MacDonald’s credits include “Backcountry”, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and “Pyewacket”, which also debuted at TIFF. He also directed the third and fourth seasons of “Slasher” and the upcoming season five for AMC’s Shudder. Most recently, he completed directing the first virtual reality horror movie experience for Meta entitled “Be Mine.”

One man’s past holds all the clues.

Slow Horses star Jack Lowden is leading a John Maclean-helmed survival thriller that will be taken to Cannes Market by HanWay Films.

Nicolas Cage (Renfield) and writer-director Andrew Niccol (Anon) will reteam with Vendôme Pictures, the Academy Award winning studio behind CODA, on Lords of War — a sequel to the 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, which starred Cage as Yuri Orlov, a composite character based on numerous arms dealers.