Ron Perlman & Rupert Everett To Play Unlikely Couple In Romantic Dramedy ‘Out Late’ As WTFilms Lines Up Cannes Market Launch

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal has been rolling out sales on the first instalment of Germany-language film trilogy Woodwalkers in Cannes.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a deal sealed at Cannes, Spain’s Film Factory has closed France with Wild Bunch on action film “The Gentleman” as well as crime thriller “Undercover.” The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin (“Blade II,” “The Beekeeper”), “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.

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.

Jamie Lang Brazil’s O2 Play, the distribution arm of O2 Filmes group, will host a Cannes market screening for director Marcelo Gomes‘ latest feature, “Portrait of a Certain Orient,” on Friday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Lerins 4. Ahead of the screening, O2 has given Variety exclusive access to the romantic period drama’s international trailer.

EXCLUSIVE: The starry packages keep on coming at the Cannes market.

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.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Archstone Entertainment has acquired international rights to multiple pictures produced by the Todd Slater-run Convoke Media and Brick Lane Entertainment. They include “Succubus,” which was written and directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Hard Miles”) and stars Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette.

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: Newly launched Dubai-based sales company MAD World has acquired worldwide rights to Egyptian director Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, a tense African migrant drama shooting later this year in Egypt.

A five-part doc series exploring the life of late South African President and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela is being readied with his personal archivists providing material. Dogwoof has boarded Mandela: Life (working title) and will launch it the Cannes Market this month.

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.

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: Here’s some buzzy casting. Greta Lee (Past Lives) and Kingsley Ben-Adir (Bob Marley: One Love) are in negotiations to star in director and producer Louis Leterrier’s (Now You See Me) upcoming sci-fi horror film 11817.

EXCLUSIVE: We understand Dwayne Johnson is due to be at the Cannes market next week to discuss upcoming A24 wrestling pic The Smashing Machine with potential buyers.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Ron Howard first attended the Cannes Film Festival with his 1988 fantasy-adventure “Willow,” and he’ll never forget his first walk up the stairs at the Palais des Festivals, where the film premiered out of competition. “I remember that first time so vividly,” he says, more than 25 years later. “And what I really remember is how fun it was.” Howard would return over the years as an Oscar-winning director and super-producer (with Brian Grazer) behind Imagine Entertainment.

EXCLUSIVE: Shark in the water! The third installment in the hit shark thriller franchise 47 Meters Down is launching at the Cannes market.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: The English-language adaptation of Momo, one of the best-loved fantasy books by The Neverending Story writer Michael Ende, has set a buzzy cast, with Alexa Goodall (A Gentleman In Moscow) taking the lead role of the young orphan girl Momo. 

EXCLUSIVE:Here’s a buzzy one. Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables) and Emmy winner Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) are attached to star in new movie The Death Of Robin Hood, we can reveal.

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) and Nick Jonas (Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle) are set to star in musical comedy Power Ballad from Once and Sing Street director John Carney, we can reveal.