The esteemed 12-day Cannes Film Festival hasn’t even started yet – it runs from May 15 until May 26 – and while a slew of films will probably get bought up during the festival, deals are already being made almost a week before it opens. And the first one to get snatched up is a no-brainer.
Deadline reports the U.S. rights to Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, the fantasy thriller How to Catch a Monster, were acquired by Warner Bros., and Sierra/Affinity will be handling the Bold Films production’s overseas rights. Warner Bros. dropped a $3 million minimum guarantee on the film, which will probably earn it back just from a midnight screening, should it go that route.
Gosling also wrote How to Catch a Monster, which stars Gosling’s Drive co-star Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Saoirse Ronan (Hanna), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Rob Zabrecky (After the Triumph of Your Birth), and Gosling’s Place Beyond the Pines co-stars Ben Mendelsohn (The Place Beyond the Pines) and Eva Mendes (The Other Guys) It will also feature an appearance by Detroit cafe owner Larry Mongo.
Adult fantasy films are a rarity in these days of rampant young adult novel adaptations, but this is hardly a gamble for Warner Bros. The film follows a single mother who is led to a dark underworld after her son stumbles upon a strange road that connects to a secret underwater town.
Production on the film recently began in Detroit.
