Olivia Colman and John Lithgow Lead LGBTQ Family Heartwarmer ‘Jimpa,’ Launching at Cannes Market From CAA and Protagonist

EXCLUSIVE: Out at the Cannes market, LA-based production company Convergence Entertainment Group is launching There There, which is being written and directed by the Polish brothers in their first collaboration in more than a decade.

Later today, the Cannes Film Festival will reverberate with the sound of one of America’s great jazz singers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cultivator Films Australia, the local subsidiary of France’s Studiocanal, has begun production of “Kangaroo,” its first movie. It tells the story of Chris Barns, aka ‘Brolga,’ founder of the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs. Previously announced in December, the film is directed by Kate Woods (“The Umbrella Academy,” “The Good Lord Bird,” “Looking for Alibrandi”) and is written by Harry Cripps (“The Dry,” “Penguin Bloom”) with Melina Marchetta and additional material from Danielle MacLean & Peta-Lee Cole-Manolis.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Seoul-based film sales company, Finecut has notched pre-sales for its upcoming action-comedy “The Desperate Chase, which it is launching this week at the Cannes Film Festival‘s Cannes Market,. The film is an action comedy featuring a hot-blooded detective and a swindler who is also a master of disguise who team up to combat an evil mafia. Early rights buyers include Rights Cube for Japan, Apex Success Global for Taiwan and Mockingbird Pictures for Vietnam. Screening as a rough cut in the Cannes Market, the film is the second feature by Kim Jae-hoon, known for his debut with the body-switch action thriller “Devils,” which released in South Korea last year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alex Garland’s critically-acclaimed “Civil War” has confirmed a theatrical release in mainland China. Marking the first A24 production to be released in China, it will arrive in cinemas from June 7. Huahua Media took rights to the film for China. Tech and entertainment giant Alibaba will also be partnering with Huahua throughout the release. Depicting a dystopian future America, the film’s story follows a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach Washington DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Bona,” one of the landmark films of Philippines cinema, is headed for release in France and the U.S. later this year. Directed by Lino Brocka, considered one of the pioneers of Philippines cinema, a restored version of the film returns to Cannes after an absence of more than 40 years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chatchai Chinnasri and Nattawut Sanyabut, two stars from runaway Thai hit film “The Undertaker,” are reunited on upcoming supernatural horror film “Night Shift.” The new film, directed by Chaiwat Sitalasai (“Spirit of Ramayana”), centers on an upcountry graveyard worker who finds himself haunted by spirits in an abandoned building in Bangkok. The film is directed by Chaiwat Sitalasai (“Spirit of Ramayana”) and is now in advanced pre-production ahead of a June start of production. Delivery is anticipated in March 2025.

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.

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: First came Cocaine Bear and Cocaine Shark. Now meet Cocaine Werewolf.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief French sales agent Pyramide International has dropped a dark and subtle trailer for “Việt and Nam” a gay drama about two young miners who must complete a mission before fate pulls them apart. Directed by Vietnamese auteur Trương Minh Quý, the film plays at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard with its world premiere on May 22. Per a synopsis from lead producer Epicmedia: “Nam and Việt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea. But the departure cannot happen as, lying in a far-off forest is Nam’s father, a soldier, whose remains they’re compelled to find.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Uncork’d Entertainment has pre-bought multi-territory rights to upcoming Argentinian-produced action-horror film “Eyes of the Abyss” ahead of its showcase in Cannes next week. Uncork’d has picked up the film, which is currently in post-production, for North America, the U.K. and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning producers See-Saw Films (The King’s Speech) are gearing up on Tenzing, about the inspirational life of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and his summit of Mount Everest in 1953 alongside fellow outsider New Zealander Edmund Hillary.

John Travolta has broken his silence following the death of his former Grease co-star Susan Buckner to pay tribute.The actress, who played Sandy's best friend Patty Simcox in the hit film, died earlier this month at the age of 72. Her family revealed Susan died peacefully surrounded by loved ones in Miami on Thursday 2 May according to Deadline.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo Films is to pre-sell Chinese crime drama “Family at large,” kicking off at the Cannes Market. The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China. Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean sales firm Finecut has inked multiple deals for horror thriller “Noise” and for “A Traveler’s Needs,” the recent Berlin prize-winner directed by Hong Sangsoo.“Noise” is a “multi-sensory and realistic horror” film that intertwines societal motifs of “floor noise” with suspenseful elements. Directed by Kim Soo-jin, the film centers around a woman with a hearing aid haunted by inexplicable sounds linked to her sister’s disappearance in her own apartment and attracting a malevolent presence.

Alex Ritman Writer-director S. Craig Zahler (“Bone Tomahawk”) is set to reunite with his “Dragged Across Concrete” and “Brawl in Cell Block 99” star Vince Vaughn and Oscar winner Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) for upcoming crime thriller “The Bookie & the Bruiser.” Anton will introduce the film to international distributors at the upcoming Marche du Film in Cannes. UTA Independent Film Group and Range Media Partners arranged the financing and will be representing the North American distribution rights.

Susan Buckner, best known to moviegoers as Grease‘s bubbly cheerleader Patty Simcox, died peacefully surrounded by loved ones in Miami on May 2.

Olivia Colman and John Lithgow are leading Jimpa, a movie about a trans non-binary teenager visiting their gay grandfather from Sophie Hyde (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), with Protagonist Pictures launching international sales at Cannes.

Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal) and BAFTA Award winner Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers) have signed on to lead Italian filmmaker Nathalie Biancheri’s latest pic Takes One To Know One.