‘The Beast,’ Dystopian Romance Starring Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, Sells to Several Territories Ahead of Venice Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paris-based leading distribution company ARP Selection has bought a pair of U.S. indie gems from the fall festival circuit, Shane Atkinson’s feature debut “LaRoy” and Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla.” “LaRoy,” a neo-noir Western comedy with Coen brothers influences, just won three major prizes at the Deauville Film Festival, including the Grand Prize, Audience Award and Critics Prize; while “Priscilla” world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won best actress for Cailee Spaeny.

Licorice Pizza and If Beale Street Could Talk producer Sara Murphy arrives at TIFF this week with the intimate yet ambitious feature Mother, Couch, the first project produced under Fat City, the production label she launched last year alongside War Pony producer Ryan Zacarias. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Vogter,” a psychological thriller directed by Gustav Möller, whose previous film “The Guilty” won the Audience Award at Sundance, has been pre-sold by Les Films du Losange to multiple territories. “Vogter,” which was just completed and is now in post, has been picked up for Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Cineart), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris) and Hungary (Vertigo). Les Films du Losange has closed these deals since unveiling the project at Cannes and is negotiating further sales in other key territories.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Kirill Serebrennikov, the celebrated Russian playwright and director whose last three films competed at Cannes, is set to create and direct a sensual, gothic TV adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera,” Gaston Leroux’s 19th century novel. Serebrennikov’s TV debut, the subversive six-part miniseries will be shot in English and is being produced by Aude Albano at Pathé, in association with Ilya Stewart at Hype Studios.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French TV sales broke an all-time record of €214.8 million ($230 million) in 2022, a 15.4% year-on rise, bolstered by premium TV series such as Newen’s procedural “HPI,” Federation’s spy series “The Bureau” and Banijay’s period show “Marie Antoinette,” according to a study unveiled by the National Film Board and promotion org Unifrance. The French org credited the spike in French TV exports to the end of the pandemic and the delivery of fresh content, as well as the return of in-person markets and business travel. French linear channels still remain the main buyers of local TV content, accounting for 49% of sales, on par with 2021.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Edouard Bergeon, whose Cesar-nominated debut feature “In the Name of the Land” was a box office hit in 2019, has penned another eco-thriller, “The Green Deal.” The movie, which is partly set in the Indonesian forest, has been boarded by Playtime and will be pitched to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival. “The Green Deal” explores crimes and colliding interests in the exploitation of a palm oil and the production of biofuels.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Edouard Bergeon, whose Cesar-nominated debut feature “In the Name of the Land” was a box office hit in 2019, has penned another eco-thriller, “The Green Deal.” The movie, which is partly set in the Indonesian forest, has been boarded by Playtime and will be pitched to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival. “The Green Deal” explores crimes and colliding interests in the exploitation of a palm oil and the production of biofuels.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Woody Allen returned to the Venice Film Festival this weekend for the world premiere of “Coup de Chance,” a romantic thriller that marks his 50th, and he suggests, quite possibly his last, feature film. The French-language film, playing at one of Europe’s major festivals, represents the continued mutual embrace between the director and the continent, after controversies have limited his funding stateside. This accounts for his pondering retirement: Allen says that producing a new movie means hustling to secure backing and at 87, he’s not sure he still wants to do that kind of work.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Elsa Zylberstein, the French César-winning actor and producer whose popular movie “Simone: Woman of the Century” recently opened in the U.S., is preparing a biopic movie of fashion icon Christian Dior. The film is being penned by Julien Teisseire (“The Hookup Plan”) and is being developed by Zylberstein’s banner Sonia Films and Odile McDonald (“Ransom”).

Ben Croll Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi drama “The Beast,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday, follows a star-crossed duo, trying — and failing — to make love work across three timelines. Moving between 1910, 2014 and 2044, the film mixes period drama, speculative sci-fi and bouts of genuinely chilling horror — particularly in a middle section set in contemporary Los Angeles. There, aspiring actress Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) catches the attention of Louis (George MacKay), a self-described incel with a violent hatred for women.

You didn’t expect French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello to make a conventional sci-fi, did you? Good, because “The Beast” is far from it. It all starts in 2044 with beautiful actress Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) in desperate need of a job.

Guy Lodge Film Critic It does rather feel as if the universe — or at least the French film industry — is trying to tell us something when 2023 has turned up not one but two loose Gallic adaptations of Henry James’s “The Beast in the Jungle.” That 1903 novella was about a man, John Marcher, who fails to fully live his life because he’s seized by premonitions of catastrophe that never visibly come to pass. It feels glumly relevant in an age of climate change, artificial intelligence and other obvious but indefinite signals of human demise; perhaps we should count this highly specific cinematic mini-trend as another.

Bertrand Bonello is a director, like Bruno Dumont, whose ascent to date has been quite closely associated with the Cannes Film Festival, so it is a surprise to see his latest — a two-hander starring French movie queen Léa Seydoux — make its debut on the Lido. It is sure to be just as divisive here as it would on home turf, but, for those willing to accept its longueurs and absurdities, The Beast is a provocative piece of sci-fi that follows Twin Peaks: The Return down the rabbit hole of dream logic, spanning three time zones in a surreal but compelling examination of human relationships.

British author Roald Dahl has long been referred to as one of the best storytellers for children of the 20th century, a seemingly flattering but objectively flawed observation. Dahl is, after all, not just one of the best storytellers for children of the 20th century.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent With fashion-themed films and series building momentum on the festival circuit, Kevin Macdonald’s “High & Low — John Galliano” has been sold by Newen Connect in major territories ahead of its premiere at Telluride. “High & Low — John Galliano,” a documentary portrait of the controversial fashion designer, is produced by Chloe Mamelok and Macdonald through KGB Films, in association with Condé Nast Entertainment.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “The Sea Beyond,” the Naples-set prison drama that has become a pop culture phenomenon in Italy, has been bought by U.S. streamer MHz Choice for North America.

EXCLUSIVE: Roman Polanski’s dark comedy The Palace has sold to a host of key territories ahead of its Venice premiere, with distributors getting behind the film in spite of the controversy surrounding the director. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Luc Besson, the formerly A-list director who rose to the top of the box office with his kinetic action films, had his career derailed by rape accusations leveled against him in 2018 by Sand Van Roy, an actress on his film “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” The ensuing legal battle consumed five years of Besson’s life, but after being cleared last June of all charges by the Cour de Cassation, the French equivalent to the Supreme Court, he’s re-emerging at this year’s Venice Film Festival with the indie drama “Dogman.” But will the industry work with Besson? That’s one of the questions that we discuss during a lengthy interview at the Plaza Athénée Hotel in Paris on the eve of his big premiere. Besson is evasive about the matter, preferring to talk up his latest effort, the story of a bruised man who faces rejection and finds solace in dogs, as well as dissatisfaction with a movie business that’s become more obsessed with superheroes than style.

Amal and George Clooney looked great upon their arrival to Venice. The couple, who’s visiting Venice for the Venice Film Festival that’s ongoing amidst SAG-AFTRA strikes, was photographed enjoying the city before the start of the event. The two were walking hand in hand as their outfit matched colors.Amal and George Clooney’s romantic outing in the place they first met 10 years agoAmal Clooney mastered the disco look in dazzling mini dress during recent outing in ItalyGeorge wore a navy polo shirt over some pants with navy stipes.

Venice Film Festival jury head Damien Chazelle arrived at the opening press conference sporting a Writers Guild on strike t-shirt and badge today.