Sony Pictures Classics has nabbed the rights to “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” Variety has learned.
The indie label plans to release the film in 2020. The Italian-American thriller was directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, and Donald Sutherland. Scott Smith adapted Charles Willeford’s novel of the same name, transporting the action from Florida to Italy’s Lake Como.
“The Burnt Orange Heresy” is set in the world of high art and has a Hitchcock-ian feel. The film follows a swindler (Bang) who sets his sights on obtaining a rare painting by the reclusive genius Jerome Debney (Sutherland). His path soon intersects with those of a fabulously wealthy art collector (Jagger) and an American teacher touring Europe (Debicki). In the midst of all this intrigue, he soon finds himself on a deadly collision course.
“The Burnt Orange Heresy” debuted at the Venice Film Festival and screened at the Toronto Film Festival. This is the second deal out of Toronto for Sony Pictures Classics. The company previously picked up “Lyrebird,” another drama set in the world of high art — though that picture followed a man tasked with recovering paintings that had been stolen by the Nazis. The company also screened several of its upcoming releases at the festival, include Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory” and Michael Winterbottom’s “Greed.”
UTA and CAA represented the filmmakers.