Variety has a first look at the anticipated Cannes Film Festival competition premiere “May December,” led by Oscar-winning heavyweights Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman and directed by Todd Haynes.
The title, which is also for sale out of this year’s Marché du Film, represents a “Far From Heaven” reunion for Moore and Haynes and a significant breakout opportunity for “Riverdale” heartthrob Charles Melton.
Moore and Melton star as married couple whose 20-year relationship inspired a national tabloid obsession at its offset. Now preparing to send their grown children off to college – as Melton reconciles with empty nest syndrome in his mid-30s – an actress (Portman) embeds with the family to study them for an upcoming film where she’ll play Moore. The couple buckles under the pressure as Portman probes as deeply as she can for an honest performance.
Piper Curda, Elizabeth Yu, and Gabriel Chung round out the cast as Moore and Melton’s children. Haynes directs form a script by Samy Burch, who developed the story with Alex Mechanik. Christopher Blauvelt is director of photography. The creative team is rounded out by production designer Sam Lisenco, editor Affonso Gonçalves, costume designer April Napier, and casting director Laura Rosenthal.
Grant S. Johnson and Tyler W. Konney fully financed and produced the project through their respective companies, Project Infinity and Taylor and Dodge. Rocket Science is repping distribution internationally, while CAA and UTA are co-repping the film in North America. ARP will distribute the project in France.
Portman and Sophie Mas are producing through their MountainA banner, with indie veterans Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler for Killer Films and Jessica Elbaum and Will Ferrell for Gloria Sanchez.
Executive producers include Madeleine K. Rudin, Thomas K.. Richards, Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, Jonathan Montepare, screenwriter Burch, Alex Brown, Thorsten Schumacher, and Claire Taylor