Variety is reporting that “Disobedience” was acquired for international territories, including in the UK and the Australia. It has not yet been reported if the movie found a distributor in the United States, but it was previously reported that the movie is expected to be released in 2017. The movie is currently in post-production and being sold at the Cannes buyers market.
Continuing to work with world-class directors from across the globe, Glen Basner’s FilmNation Entertainment has sold most of the world on its double bill of upcoming English-language movies from Sebastian Lelio: Romantic drama “Disobedience,” currently in post-production, starring Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz, Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola; and Lelio’s untitled film with Academy Award winner Julianne Moore, in a reimagining of his critically-acclaimed Berlinale 2015 smash hit “Gloria,” which is currently in pre-production.
”We feel very fortunate to work with Sebastian [Lelio] and some amazing producers on two truly special films. This is proof positive that excellence and boldness in film can still guarantee a filmmaker world class distribution,” said Glen Basner, FilmNation CEO.
As proof, “Disobedience” has been acquired by Curzon Artificial Eye for the U.K., Roadshow for Australia, Mars for France, Cinema SRL for Italy, Lev for Israel, and Pathe for Switzerland.
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) has acquired multiple territories including Germany, Spain, Japan, CIS, South Korea, Benelux, Latin America, Greece, Portugal, Portugal, Turkey, all of Asia and South Africa.
Rolling off a fantastic reception for “A Fantastic Woman” at this February’s Berlinale, the pre-sales on the two FilmNation titles establish the Chile-born Lelio as one of international’s hottest new talents as he drives into English-language filmmaking.
“Disobedience” also shows FilmNation, which is able to board projects at at every stage of production from financing to producing and international distribution, boarding a movie early, co-financing “Disobedience” with Film4 in the U.K.
Written by Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz (“Ida”), “Disobedience” is based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Naomi Alderman which follows a woman (Weisz) who returns to her Orthodox Jewish home after learning about the death of her estranged father. Her rekindling of a repressed love for her best friend – a woman now married to her cousin, played by McAdams – causes upheaval in the community.
The film was produced by Frida Torresblanco for Braven Films, Weisz for HGS Productions, and Ed Guiney for Element Pictures. “‘Disobedience’ is a timely, distinctive and emotionally powerful story set at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, of personal desires and the demands of faith,” FilmNation said in a press statement Tuesday.
