Production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation has inked new key deals on psychological thriller “John and the Hole,” directed by one of Variety’s top 10 directors to watch, Pascual Sisto. The film is written by Nicolás Giacobone, an Academy Award winner with “Birdman,” adapted from his short story “El Pozo.”
The Cannes 2020 title, which also screened in Sundance and recently played in competition at the Deauville American Film Festival, where it won the Louis Roederer prize of the Révélation jury, sold in France to Ace Entertainment, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Koch Films, in Scandinavia to Njuta Films, in Latin America to Synapse Distribution, and in Africa to Gravel Road Distribution Group.
Previous deals included the U.K. with Vertigo Releasing, Australia/New Zealand with Rialto Distribution, and South Korea with The Coup. IFC Midnight released the film in the U.S. earlier this past month.
Described by Variety’s Peter Debruge as “calculated and precise [with] director Pascal Sisto weaving a very dark thread of humor through an otherwise high-tension situation,” the film centers on 13-year-old John, who decides to hold his affluent family captive in an underground bunker in the land behind their house. Left without supervision, John experiences newfound independence, exploring the difficult passage from childhood freedom to adult responsibility.
The film stars Emmy-winner Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Charlie Shotwell (“Captain Fantastic,” Marvel’s “Morbius”), BAFTA winner Jennifer Ehle (“A Quiet Passion,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Fifty Shades” franchise) and Taissa Farmiga (“The Nun,” “The Mule”).
The sound design team includes Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc and Carlos Cortés, who collectively took home the Academy Award for sound on behalf of “The Sound of Metal.”
The film is produced by Elika Portnoy and Alex Orlovsky of Mutressa Movies, and Michael Bowes, and executive produced by 3311 Productions, alongside Phil Hoelting, Marco Vicini, and Fernando Tsai.