Patrick Wachsberger’s 193 has locked further territories on its inaugural Cannes slate, which included Lynne Ramsay’s buzzy Cannes debut Die My Love starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson and Colman Domingo’s upcoming directorial debut Scandalous!
Following a $24 million, multiterritory deal with Mubi, 193 has also sold Die My Love, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, to the following territories: Baltics (GPI), CIS (Provzglyad – Vesta), Hong Kong (Golden Scene), Indonesia (Falcon Films), Israel (Forum Film), Japan (The Klockworx), Middle East (Italia Films), Mongolia (FilmBridge), Philippines (Pioneer Films), Poland (Vision Film), Portugal (NOS Audiovisuais), Scandinavia (NonStop Entertainment) and Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro (KCS)
The film is based on the 2017 novel by Ariana Harwicz and also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte. Set in rural America, it is a portrait of a married woman’s (Lawrence) mental disintegration as post-natal depression consumes and obliterates her. Pattinson plays Lawrence’s husband, and Stanfield is her imagined lover.
Scandalous! is set to star Sydney Sweeney and David Jonsson. The plot will chart the explosive true story of a forbidden romance at the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age. In 1957, Kim Novak (Sweeney), one of the biggest box office stars of her time and the luminous face of Vertigo, falls for Sammy Davis Jr. (Jonsson), the multi-talented Rat Pack sensation who defied boundaries of race and fame. Their affair, unfolding in the shadows of Jim Crow America, sparks a firestorm. With the mafia circling, studio heads panicking and even Frank Sinatra walking a tightrope between friendship and fallout, the stakes skyrocket. What begins as passion becomes peril.
193 has locked deals on the film in the following territories: Australia/New Zealand (Village Roadshow), Baltics (GPI), Benelux (Belga Films), Eastern Europe (Monolith Films), Greece (The Film Group), Israel (Forum Film), Italy (Rai Cinema), Latin America (Sun Distribution Group), Mongolia (FilmBridge), Philippines (Pioneer Films), Portugal (Pris Audiovisuais), Scandinavia (Nordisk Film), South Africa (Empire Entertainment), Spain (DeAPlaneta Entertainment), Turkey (Fabula Films) and the UK (Entertainment Film Distributors).
Also in Cannes this year 193 was selling The Surgeon, an original action film starring Michelle Yeoh written and directed by Roshan Sethi; and The Toxic Avenger, a comedic reimagining of Troma Entertainment’s 1984 cult classic from director Macon Blair.
The Surgeon follows a retired surgeon (Yeoh) who is abducted and forced to operate on a mystery patient. Though greatly outnumbered, her captors have overlooked her greatest weapon: 35 years of surgical experience, leading to an explosive and brutal confrontation during which she outwits and cuts down her enemies in a completely novel visual style.
The film has sold to Australia/New Zealand (Umbrella Entertainment), Baltics (ACME Film), Benelux (18K), CIS (Unicorn Media), Eastern Europe (Unicorn Media), Greece (The Film Group), Israel (United King Films), Philippines (Pioneer Films), Portugal (NOS Audiovisuais), South Africa (Empire Entertainment), Spain (DeAPlaneta Entertainment) and Turkey (Fabula Films).
Blair also wrote the Toxic Avenger screenplay based on Lloyd Kaufman’s original script. The film stars Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Jacob Tremblay, Julia Davis and Taylour Paige and has been sold to Australia/New Zealand (Umbrella Entertainment), CIS (Golem Films), Germany/Austria (Wild Bunch AG), Greece (The Film Group), Israel (Golem Films), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Japan (Nikkatsu Corporation), Middle East (The Plot Pictures), Philippines (Pioneer Films), Poland (Vision Film), Scandinavia (NonStop Entertainment), South Africa (Empire Entertainment), Spain (Vertigo Films) and the UK (Signature Entertainment).
“We are immensely proud to see our slate resonate so strongly at Cannes,” 193 CEO Wachsberger said in a statement. “Securing global sales on four high-profile films, one of which having already had a successful premiere, affirms the strength of our storytelling and the trust our global partners have placed in us. This is a fantastic start for our company and a signal of the compelling projects we will continue to deliver.”
