StudioCanal hedges bets on You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet

by Fabien Lemercier

03/05/2012 - The international sales division at French company StudioCanal is looking forward to the Film Market at the 65th Cannes Film Festival (from May 16 to 27), where its title You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet [trailer] by Alain Resnais (read the article) will be vying for the Palme d’Or. The film, that StudioCanal will itself release in France on September 26, should generate intensive business, as so far it has only been pre-acquired for the Benelux, Germany, and Switzerland.

Harold van Lier’s team will also negotiate sales for a title at the Directors’ Fortnight this year: animation co-production Ernest & Célestine [trailer, film focus] (France - Belgium - Luxembourg) by the trio Stéphane Aubier - Vincent Patar - Benjamin Renner (news). The feature, whose screenplay was written by the famous novelist Daniel Pennac, has already been acquired for the United Kingdom, Germany, Benelux, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, South Korea, Israel, and the Middle East.

StudioCanal will also officially launch pre-sales for the attractive title King of Soho by English director Michael Winterbottom (read more), and will also be betting on another British film in production: a comedy whose working title is I Give it a Year by Dan Mazer to feature Rose Byrne and Raff Spall in the cast.

Among the films in its line-up that are currently shooting, the following stand out: Serena by Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier (news), already pre-sold for Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Greece, the Benelux, Canada, and Latin America, as well as French production Mood Indigo (read the article) by Michel Gondry, adapted from the cult novel by Boris Vian, to star Audrey Tautou, Romain Duris, and Omar Sy, and already acquired for the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the Benelux, Switzerland, Greece, Canada, the CIS, and Taiwan.

As for films now in post-production, apart from the unmissable Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen brothers, Africain Safari 3D by Belgian director Ben Stassen stands out, with footage from it to be shown at the market, as does the documentary Marylin’s Fragments by Liz Garbus. A promo reel will also be shown for the British thriller In Fear by Jeremy Lovering, while Welcome Aboard (read the article) by Jean Becker and The Lookout (read the article ) by Italian filmmaker Michele Placido will also be unveiled at the event.

As for distribution in France, on May 16 StudioCanal will release Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson, the opening film for this year's Cannes Film Festival and its competition.

(Translated from French)