Variety is reporting that Sierra/Affinity has sold 20 international markets for Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, fantasy drama “How to Catch a Monster.”
The project is selling at Cannes. Warner Bros acquired U.S. rights to the project last week.
Territories sold include Australia/New Zealand (Entertainment One Australia); Benelux (Cineart); Canada (Entertainment One Canada); CIS (Top Film Distribution/DK Media); France (Wild Side); Latin America (Sun Distribution); Scandinavia (Scanbox); United Kingdom (Entertainment One UK)
Marc Platt and Adam Siegel are producing along with Gosling through his Phantasma Films and Michel Litvak and David Lancaster through Bold Films. The script, written by Gosling, centers on a single mother swept into a dark fantasy underworld while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town.
Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros picked up the U.S. rights for “How To Catch A Monster“.
Warner Bros has scored the first major acquisition of the Cannes Film Festival, before anybody has gotten on a plane. The studio is closing a deal for U.S. rights to How To Catch A Monster, the film that is shooting now. Writer-director Ryan Gosling‘s film stars Saoirse Ronan, Christina Hendricks, Eva Mendes, Matt Smith Ben Mendelsohn and Rob Zabrecky. The studio is paying a $3 million minimum guarantee for the film, a fantasy thriller in which a single mother is swept into a dark underworld, while her teenage son discovers a road that leads him to a secret underwater town. Marc Platt is the primary producer on the film.
The film is being financed and produced by Bold Films, and Sierra/Affinity (which also is selling Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler on the Croisette with Jake Gyllenhaal starring) will sell Gosling’s film overseas. Having a major distributor like Warner Bros in place should make that effort much easier. Gosling has starred for the studio in Gangster Squad and Crazy, Stupid, Love, and it sounds here like Warner Bros is betting on him as a filmmaker as well. The deal’s being made by WME Global head Graham Taylor, who was out of the country and couldn’t be reached.
The schedule for the festival was also announced. “Only God Forgives” is part of the official competition and will have it’s first screenings on May 22. The movie will also have an additional screening the next day. Still no word if Ryan will attend the festival, but he is filming his directorial debut so he might be too busy.
The official Cannes press kit for “Only God Forgives” was released, it features new still of the movie and an in-depth interview with director Nicolas Winding Refn. We added the scans featuring Ryan in our gallery. You can download the press kit at the official website of the festival.
Gallery links:
2013 – Only God Forgives > Press Kit (Cannes 2013)
