Neon has picked up rights for North America, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand for Fjord, the English-language debut of Palme d’Or-winning Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. Neon plans to release the film theatrically in the U.S..
The re-teaming of Stan and Reinsve, who co-starred in A Different Man, is a family drama focused on the Gheorghiu family, made up of a Romanian father (Stan) and a Norwegian mother (Reinsve), who relocate to a remote village in the mother’s homeland. They quickly form a close bond with the neighboring Halberg family. But when troubling allegations surface, the Gheorghius find themselves at the center of a small-town reckoning.
Stan is coming off a best actor Oscar nomination for playing Donald Trump in Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice and a reprisal of his role as Bucky in the MCU in Thunderbolts*.
Fjord has just wrapped production in Norway. Goodfellas is handling worldwide sales. The project is one of the hot titles at this year’s Cannes film market. The deal was negotiated by Sarah Colvin on behalf of Neon and Eva Diederix for Goodfellas.
Mungiu, a Cannes mainstay, has previously received the festival’s top honors, including the Palme d’Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, best director for Graduation, and best screenplay for Beyond the Hills.
Neon, still enjoying the post-Oscar glow from Sean Baker’s best picture winner Anora, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes last year, has several titles from this year’s festival lineup on its slate, including Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, Raoul Peck’s Orwell: 2+2=5, and Michael Angelo Covino’s Splitsville.
Stan is represented by Brookside Artists Management, CAA, Sloan Offer Weber and Relevant. Reinsve is repped by CAA and Narrative.
