Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Zone of Interest’ Scores Global Sales After Buzzy Cannes Premiere

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being greeted with a seven-minute standing ovation on opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp’s comeback movie “Jeanne du Barry,” directed by Maiwenn, has charmed French audiences after debuting in cinemas. The costume drama, which stars Depp as the French King Louis XV and marks his first leading role in three years, has been having a strong run at the French B.O., proving that the controversial star is still bankable. At least in France. The film was widely released by Le Pacte on 650 screens and has grossed nearly $4.1 million from more than 550,000 tickets sold in two weeks, according to Comscore France. Currently playing across 800 screens, the film got mixed reviews in Cannes, but still has the potential of selling up to 850,000 tickets (an estimated $6.4 million), according to Eric Marti at Comscore France.

McKinley Franklin editor HBO has released the official trailer for its explicit Sam Levinson-directed series “The Idol,” which is set to premiere on June 4. “The Idol” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, making it the first television show to officially debut at the festival. The series stars Lily-Rose Depp as rising pop star Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Tedros, a powerful, sex-obsessed cult leader.  After calling off her latest tour, Jocelyn is on a mission to reignite her career, with big dreams of becoming the biggest star in the industry. After she meets Tedros, Jocelyn is swiftly drawn into his world, where he promises to expand her career to new heights — at any cost.

Marta Balaga Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” has scored a Fipresci award in Cannes.  The jury of the International Federation of Film Critics praised the film “for its formal radicality, the complexity of the sound and score, and its contrast between the invisible atrocities behind the wall and a supposed paradise,” Fipresci stated on Saturday.  “By presenting the horror as something usual, and using everyday-like dialogues, it’s a reflection on ignorance as a disease that connects the past with the present.” Glazer’s take on a Nazi family living next door to Auschwitz and enjoying it – loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis, who tragically passed away on May 19, just before the premiere – has been getting rave reviews at the French festival, becoming one of the frontrunners for this year’s Palme d’Or.

A24 has unveiled a raft of key territory deals for Jonathan Glazer’s hotly tipped Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or frontrunner The Zone Of Interest ahead of the awards ceremony on Saturday.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International It’s (finally) official: Prime Video has greenlit Season 2 of “Citadel,” with Joe Russo set to direct the entire season. The first season of the spy drama, which premiered in April, had a number of directors attached, including Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Jessica Yu and Newton Thomas Sigel. On Season 2, however, it will be solely Joe Russo on directing duties, with David Weil returning as showrunner. Prime Video has also revealed that its big-budget original — which stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and features Lesley Manville and Stanley Tucci — is its second most-watched new original series outside the U.S. behind “Rings of Power” and its fourth most-watched program worldwide.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Rebel Wilson has revealed that she auditioned for the next James Bond movie after producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson saw her host the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards. The “Pitch Perfect” star is currently at the Cannes Film Festival to launch her directorial debut, “The Deb,” a big-screen adaptation of the titular Australian musical comedy. Variety caught up with Wilson to discuss her turn in the director’s seat, and reflect on her no-holds-barred hosting duties at the BAFTAs, where she roasted Britain’s Royal Family. Wilson explained that she had to clear some Bond-related jokes with the producers ahead of the awards, which put them in direct contact and ultimately led to an audition.

“The Idol” made its debut at Cannes, with the heavily hyped HBO series earning a five-minute standing ovation while also stirring up controversy for its edgy, plentiful sex sequences — which led The Wrap to describe the show as “luxury sleaze.”

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” is a hot property in Cannes, and it’s yet to even premiere. Several buyers are currently circling the Japan-set, music-infused title from master filmmaker Wenders, which bows in competition on Thursday. Sources tell Variety that interested parties so far include Utopia, MUBI, Magnolia, Sideshow and Janus Films and Sony Pictures Classics. Wenders’ “Perfect Days” follows Tokyo toilet cleaner Hirayama, who seems content with his simple life. Outside of his everyday routine, he enjoys his passion for books and, in particular, for music. Over the course of the film, a series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past.

EXCLUSIVE: After an old-style all night auction, Netflix is finalizing an $11M deal for North American rights to May December, the Todd Haynes-directed drama that stars Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. It is far and away the big deal of Cannes so far, and a deal of this size ought to send a jolt of optimism that the North American marketplace for Cannes films is still alive and well, after a slow start here.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Netflix landed North American rights for “May December,” a soapy romantic-drama directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, which debuted at Cannes Film Festival. It sold for $11 million, marking the first big sale of this year’s festival. Several bidders, including Neon, were in the mix before Netflix emerged victorious. The streamer hopes to position “May December” as an Oscar contender in the fall. A scandalous age-gap relationship plays out at the center of “May December,” which debuted on Saturday to raves and earned a six-minute standing ovation. Moore plays the “December” to Charles Melton’s much-younger “May,” who was just 13 when the two fell in love. Given their 20-year age gap, their marriage inspired a national tabloid scandal. Decades later, their relationship is put to the test as an actress (Portman) travels to Georgia to study the life of Moore’s character, whom she’s set to play in a film.

Sam Levinson’s The Idol, the new HBO series starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, received a five-minute-plus standing ovation after its world premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday night.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “In Our Day,” the film by South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo which closes the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival, has seen distributors in multiple territories move early to strike rights deals. French rights were picked up by Capricci), Spanish rights by L’Atalante Cinema and Greek rights by Ama Films. The film has its official premiere on May 25. Seoul-based Finecut has long been the sales agent for Hong’s plentiful output. In addition to the deals on “In Our Day,” Finecut signed agreements with L’Atalante, with France’s Ariona Films and Taiwan’s Cola Films for “In Water,” Hong’s first film of 2023 which premiered in the Encounters section in Berlin in February. The film was previously sold to Cinema Guild for North America.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International British writer Martin Amis, the author of the book “The Zone of Interest,” has died at 73. News of his death comes just one day after the big-screen adaptation of his 2014 novel premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. The New York Times reports that Amis died of esophageal cancer, as confirmed by his wife, the writer Isabel Fonseca. Amis published 15 novels over the course of his career, a number of which were adapted. Jonathan Glazer’s treatment of Amis’ chilling Nazi drama “The Zone of Interest” is one of the buzziest premieres to come out of Cannes so far. The film follows the family of a high-ranking SS officer that lives next door to Auschwitz concentration camp. In a review that labelled “Zone of Interest” as “chilling and profound,” Variety critic Owen Gleiberman said the film “holds human darkness up to the light and examines it as if under a microscope.”

reported by Screen International, how it’s impossible to watch the film today and not look at the present. “As white Europeans or Americans through the accident of our birth, we were born into aspects of wealth that were gained through hundreds of years of enslavement of people who didn’t look like us – hundreds of years ago, so we’re conveniently distanced from that.”Cannes Gets a Jump on Blockbuster SeasonCannes may be all about prestige features and future Oscar contenders but that’s no reason it can’t also act as a launchpad for a rather full summer movie season.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Stuart Ford may have been named Variety’s Billion Dollar Producer, but the AGC Studios founder is already looking ahead to his next big milestone. “We’ve raised more than $1.5 billion in production financing and, the way our cinema business is evolving, who knows, in three or four years from now, I might be standing in front of you having achieved $1.05 billion at the box office,” said Ford. The executive was feted by Variety at a May 19 cocktail reception in Cannes. Many of the super-producer’s business associates and partners, as well as industry friends, dropped by the Croisette villa to toast Ford, who was given the honor by Variety’s co-editor in chief Ramin Setoodeh.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Zone of Interest,” writer-director Jonathan Glazer’s searing Nazi drama about the banality of evil, became the talk of Cannes Film Festival after its debut on Friday night. But the director admits he didn’t know the story he wanted to tell before the cameras were rolling. “You never really know why you tackle and subject. It’s an ever-evolving journey,” he said at Saturday’s press conference for the movie. “It wasn’t one particular moment that I knew I was going to make this film. When I started the process, I didn’t know what perspective we were coming from.” In the end result, “The Zone of Interest,” which is loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, tells the story of Rudolf Höss, a Nazi commandant who designed and built Auschwitz. It also looks at his relationship with his wife Hedwig, as they create their dream life directly next door to the concentration camp. In crafting a portrait of the Holocaust, Glazer says he conducted an “enormous amount of research” to capture the divide between the Höss family’s mundane domestic dramas and Auschwitz, which lies on the other side of the garden walls.

Jonathan Glazer’s first directed title in 10 years, The Zone of Interest, shows an aspect of the Holocaust never seen, that from the POV of the Nazis who lived outside the Auschwitz camp, building dream lives of their own.

Christopher Vourlias With Jonathan Glazer’s Auschwitz-set Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” competing for the Palme d’Or and a host of Polish producers bringing buzzy upcoming projects to the Marché du Film, the Polish industry should again have Cannes talking. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights: The Zone of Interest(Competition)Director: Jonathan GlazerProducers: James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska (JW Films, Extreme Emotions)Sales: A24The veteran British filmmaker’s first film in nearly a decade, which will compete for the Palme d’Or, is a Holocaust drama loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis that’s sure to be among the festival’s most talked-about films.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor With Jonathan Glazer’s previous films “Under the Skin” and “Birth,” the man was playing checkers. Now he’s playing chess with “The Zone of Interest.” For 105 minutes, the auteur filmmaker who’s helmed just three feature films, including the 2000 crime thriller “Sexy Beast” with Oscar nominee Ben Kingsley, puts the audience through the wringer with his bleak Nazi drama told from the perpetrator’s perspective. The result is the first major Oscar player to emerge from the Cannes Film Festival, and a serious contender for the coveted Palme d’Or. “Interest” is not for the faint of hearts. It’s a grueling endeavor that doesn’t use imagery to depict the horrors that resulted in the murdering of six million Jews. Instead, the soundscape provided by his frequent collaborator Johnnie Burn, the sound designer who’s snubbed work includes “The Favourite” and “Waves,” lays down his most audacious work yet.

CANNES – If anyone tells you the world doesn’t need any more films about the holocaust or the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis in 2023, we’d suggest you politely correct them. Despite over eighty years of cinema on the subject, there continue to be new stories waiting to be told (and some re-told).