Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to British-Cambodian filmmaker Hong Khaou’s “Monsoon,” a drama headlined by “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding and Parker Sawyers.
Sold by Protagonist Pictures, “Monsoon” had its world premiere at Karlovy Vary last year and stars Golding as Kit, a young British man of Vietnamese decent who returns to Saigon to scatter his mother’s ashes. Along the journey, Kit meets estranged family members, and falls for an American man Lewis (Sawyers), whose father fought in the Vietnam War.
“Monsoon” marks Khaou’s second feature, following his critically acclaimed directorial debut “Lilting” with Ben Whishaw, which was also distributed by Strand Releasing in the U.S.
“We’re so thrilled to be working with Protagonist Pictures again, and especially to follow up with Hong’s latest effort, which is such a beautifully crafted and personal film for Hong,” said Marcus Hu, co-president of Strand Releasing.
The deal was negotiated between Jon Gerrans, the co-president of Strand Releasing, and George Hamilton, the head of sales of protagonist Pictures. Paradigm co-represented the film with Protagonist Pictures. “Monsoon” is produced by Moonspun Films, BBC Films, BFI and Sharp House.
Since playing the lead role in “Crazy Rich Asians,” Golding has starred in Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen” and Paul Feig’s “Last Christmas.” Golding will next star in the big-budget Paramount release “Snake Eyes,” a live action film based on the beloved Hasbro character. Sawyers, meanwhile, has starred as the young Barack Obama as “Southside With You” which played at Sundance.
Strand Releasing is planning “Monsoon” in the fall. Peccadillo will release the film in the U.K. later in the year.