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Less than a month after Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice landed international distribution at Mubi and Neon in North America, the South Korean pic has a trailer and a release date.

The tense Korean-language video sees Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun under stress, constantly tapping his veiny forehead as he seeks answers to his problems. Guns, knives, lighters and cop cars are seen during a series of intense fast cuts. Both the trailer and a new poster reveal a September release date has been set.

Poster for ‘No Other Choice’ Cj Enm

The film follows Lee as middle-aged man Man-su, who embarks on a determined job hunt after being unexpectedly fired from the paper company that he worked for 25 years and eventually comes to a desperate decision. Son Yejin (The Last Princess) leads the cast alongside him.

Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran...

Mubi has acquired all rights to No Other Choice, the latest film from South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave), for Latin America, the UK, Ireland, Benelux (in concert with Cinéart), Spain, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Saarc.

The news comes following word yesterday that Neon is handling the film’s North American release.

Based on the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, No Other Choice follows a middle-aged man named Man-su who embarks on a determined job hunt after being unexpectedly fired from the paper company that he worked for 25 years.

Park directed from a script written with Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar and Jahye Lee. Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil) and Son Yejin (The Last Princess) lead a cast that also includes Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Believer) and Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr. Sunshine).

Producers...

Mubi has acquired rights to Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice for a good chunk of the world, including Latin America, the UK, Ireland, Benelux, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia/New Zealand, and South East Asia. Cinéart will handle the theatrical release in Benelux in partnership with Mubi.

The acquisition follows Neon’s announcement yesterday that it had secured North American rights to the film. Mubi and Neon have been sympatico on several arthouse titles this year. In Cannes, Mubi nabbed multiple international rights on Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, and Oliver Laxe’s Sirat, all of which Neon has for domestic release.

No Other Choice, currently in post-production, is based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax. The cast is led by Korean stars Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) and Son Ye-jin (A Moment to Remember), and features Park Hee-soon,...

Mubi has landed distribution rights to Park Chan-wook’s upcoming dark comedy No Other Choice in multiple territories.

The company has secured all rights to South Korean feature in Latin America, the UK, Ireland, Benelux, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Saarc. Cinéart will release the film theatrically in Benelux in collaboration with Mubi.

The deal was revealed just a day after Neon announced it had picked up rights for North America and ahead of a long-rumoured selection for Venice.

It marks the second time Mubi has handled a film by Park, having previously released Cannes award-winner Decision To Leave...

Mubi is reuniting with “Decision to Leave” filmmaker, Park Chan-wook, on his upcoming film, “No Other Choice,” which is currently in post-production and is strongly tipped for a world premiere in competition at Venice.

The global streamer, distributor and producer has bought the film for Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Benelux, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Saarc. Cinéart will release “No Other Choice” theatrically in Benelux. Neon has bought it for North America.

Mubi has a history with Chan-wook. The company entered North America three years ago by theatrically distributing the Korean auteur’s twisty romantic thriller “Decision to Leave” which became his highest-grossing movie in North America, surpassing “Stoker” and “The Handmaiden.” Mubi had also released the movie in multiple international territories.

Park’s 12th feature, “No Other Choice” is based on the 1997 novel “The Ax” by Donald Westlake. It follows a man (Lee) who is abruptly...

Park Chan-wook is one of the world’s most sought-after filmmakers, and Neon wants to be at the head of the table when he serves up something new. On Thursday, Neon announced its reteaming with Park Chan-wook for his next feature film, No Other Choice. Neon holds the North American rights to No Other Choice, starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin as husband and wife alongside an ensemble cast including Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Believer 1&2), and Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr. Sunshine).

“No Other Choice, Park’s 12th feature, is based on the 1997 novel The Ax by Donald Westlake. It follows a man (Lee) who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. He grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work, eventually he comes to a certain decision,” says Neon’s official press release.

Neon has reteamed with Korean director Park Chan-wook and Parasite studio Cj Enm by taking the North American rights to the violent comedy thriller No Other Choice.

Korean film royalty Lee Byung-hun and Son Yejin star in the thriller about Man-soo (Lee), who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. Man-soo grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work, and eventually resolves to kill his job competitors.

Son plays Man-soo’s wife, the warm-hearted Mi-ri in the latest film from Korean cinema to reflect beyond a core narrative the Asian country’s underlying economic and political tensions. Chan-wook’s 12th movie is an adaptation of American novelist Donald Westlake’s 1996 novel The Ax.

Westlake’s novel was previously adapted into French by Costa Gavras as the 2005 film Le Couperet (The Ax). The ensemble cast for Chan-wook’s Korean adaptation includes Park Hee-soon,...

Neon has acquired North American rights to “No Other Choice,” the next film from South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, the distributor announced Wednesday.

Park’s 12th feature has been in the works for quite some time and only wrapped production in January, but we referred to the film nevertheless as a snub for the Cannes lineup in May (where he previously won Best Director for “Decision to Leave” in 2022), but a source tells IndieWire the film is expected to now premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

“No Other Choice” stars Lee Byung-hun, best known as the villain in “Squid Game,” and Son Ye-jin (“The Last Princess”) as a husband and wife. After the husband is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years, he grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work. It’s based on a 1997 novel by Donald Westlake called “The Ax,...

Neon has acquired the North American rights to No Other Choice, the latest feature from acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook.

Based on Donald E. Westlake‘s 1997 novel The Ax, the black comedy thriller is expected to world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August.

Lee Byung-hun (“Squid Game”) stars a man who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. He grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work, eventually coming to a life-altering decision.

Son Ye-jin (“Crash Landing on You”), Park Hee-soon (“Squid Game”), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (“The Glory”), Cha Seung-won (Night in Paradise), and Yoo Yeon-seok (“When the Phone Rings”) also star.

Chan-wook co-wrote the script with Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee (Uprising), and Don McKellar (Blindness).

No Other Choice is produced by Chan-wook and Back Jisun of Moho Film and Michèle Ray Gavras and Alexandre Gavras of Kg Production,...

Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” has found a North American distributor.

Neon has acquired the North American rights to the South Korean auteur’s latest, which is expected to premiere later this year at Venice.

“No Other Choice” is based on Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax.” It follows a middle-aged man who is laid off from his longtime job and becomes increasingly desperate. When he discovers the other people who are up for the same position he starts … thinning out the competition. The novel was previously adapted in 2005 by Costa-Gavras (his daughter is one of the producers of the new film).

Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin play the husband and wife, with a supporting cast that includes Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, Cha Seung-won and Yoo Yeon-seok.

Neon and Cj Enm previously teamed on “Parasite,” which was a critical darling and awards powerhouse, eventually becoming the first...

Neon has taken North American rights to No Other Choice, the next movie from Park Chan-wook.

The project puts Neon back in business with the Korean filmmaker, the label having recently handled the helmer’s re-release of 2003’s Oldboy.

No Other Choice is Park’s 12th movie, and it’s based on the 1997 novel The Ax by Donald Westlake. It follows a man (Squid Game‘s Lee Byung-hun) who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. He grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work and eventually comes to a certain decision.

Son Yejin co-stars as the man’s wife alongside an ensemble cast including Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Believer), and Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr. Sunshine).

No Other Choice is produced by Park...

Neon is reteaming with Park Chan-wook and Cj Enm and has acquired North American rights to the South Korean auteur’s upcoming dark comedyNo Other Choice, which has been tipped to premiere in Venice.

Neon will plan an awards run on the filmproduced by Cj Enm Studios and Park’s Moho Films and financed by Cj Enm. It is currently in post.

Lee Byung-hun from Squid Game and I Saw The Devil stars as a middle-aged man fired from a paper company after years of service who goes on a killing spree to eliminate his competition.

Lee is joined by Son Ye-jin,...

Neon has bought North American rights to “No Other Choice,” the upcoming movie by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (“Decision to Leave”) which is expected to world premiere at Venice.

Park’s 12th feature, “No Other Choice” is based on the 1997 novel “The Ax” by Donald Westlake. It follows a man (Lee) who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. He grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work, eventually he comes to a certain decision.

The film stars Lee Byung-hun (“I Saw the Devil“) and Son Yejin (“The Last Princess“) are set to star as husband and wife alongside an ensemble cast including Park Hee-soon (“My Name”), Lee Sung-min (“The Spy Gone North”), Yeom Hye-ran (“The Glory”), Cha Seung-won (“Believer”) and Yoo Yeon-seok (“Mr. Sunshine”). The deal reteams Neon and Cj Enm following the release of “Parasite” which broke ground as...

The 16th edition of the Lumière Film Festival kicked off in high style, with a glittering lineup of stars including Benicio del Toro, Tim Burton, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Paradis plus high-profile directors Costa-Gavras and Giuseppe Tornatore gracing the red carpet in Lyon.

Bellucci, who’s in town to present a new documentary about the stage play in which she portrays Maria Callas, was among the last to take to the red carpet. After taking a few steps, she turned back with a playful gesture as if she had forgotten something, reached through the curtain, and drew out Tim Burton, to the delight of the 5,000-strong crowd: Burton’s unannounced appearance drew massive applause.

The pair famously met and fell in love in Lyon in 2022, when Burton was the recipient of the festival’s lifetime achievement Lumière Award, which was handed to him by Bellucci. The Italian actress has since...

Pulsar Content has boarded “A Survivor’s Tale,” produced by Kg Prods. (“Custody”), the banner founded by Costa Gavras and Michèle Ray-Gavras. The movie is headlined by Salomé Dewaels, the star of Xavier Giannoli’s Venice competition film “Lost Illusions.”

Directed by Belgian filmmaker Micha Wald, ”A Survivor’s Tale” is based on the true story of Marguerite de la Rocque, a young noblewoman abandoned in the wilderness of 16th century Canada. Condemned for being pregnant with a child born from a violent assault, she’s abandoned with her rapist and her maid on a deserted island near Newfoundland.

Marguerite must survive two harrowing years on the “Island of Demons,” facing starvation and the relentless cold. As she battles to keep herself and her unborn child alive, Marguerite’s journey becomes one of profound transformation and emancipation. Orignally titled “L’île de la Demoiselle,” the movie also stars the rising...

Costa-Gavras, the celebrated Franco-Greek master who’s won an Oscar and a Palme d’Or, has teamed with French sales company Playtime for his latest film, “Last Breath.”

Currently in post-production, “Last Breath” boasts a strong international cast led by Denis Podalydès (“Deception”) and Kad Merad (“Welcome to the Sticks”), who star alongside Marilyne Canto (“The Starry Sky Above Me”), Charlotte Rampling (“Dune”), Ángela Molina (“Broken Embraces”), Karin Viard (“Strangers by Night”), Hiam Abbass (“Succession”) and Agathe Bonitzer (“Maria Montessori”).

Costa-Gavras penned the film, based on the book “Le Dernier Souffle” by Régis Debray and Claude Grange. A Cannes regular, Costa-Gavras won the Palme d’Or for “Missing” in 1982, served on the jury in 1976 and won the Jury Prize with his political thriller “Z” which went on to win an Oscar. He has also been feted as guest of honor at Cannes Classics, the selection dedicated to heritage films.

“We...

Sacrifice, directed by Romain Gavras, promises a thrilling and suspenseful tale set amidst a high-end charity gala disrupted by radical intruders. The film, co-written with Will Arbery, has garnered interest from A-list actors like Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy due to its unique and captivating storyline. Gavras's transition into English-language cinema with Sacrifice is a blend of homage to his heritage and sharp critique of celebrity culture, promising a layered narrative.

Romain Gavras is set to direct his first English-language film, Sacrifice. Co-written with Will Arbery, the film features an ensemble cast led by Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek Pinault, and Brendan Fraser.

According to Deadline, the plot of Sacrifice unfolds against the backdrop of a high-end charity gala, suddenly disrupted by a group of radicals on a mystical mission. These intruders are determined to fulfill an ancient prophecy, leading to a narrative rife with conflict and suspense. The...

French filmmaker Romain Gavras, whose previous credits include the drama Our Day Will Come, the crime comedy The World Is Yours, and the thriller Athena, is set to make his English-language debut with a new film called Sacrifice, and he has assembled a jaw-dropping cast for it. Deadline reports that Sacrifice, which is described as having “a similar combustible and propulsive anarchy” to Athena while being “closer to satire,” is set to star Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame), Anya Taylor-Joy (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Salma Hayek Pinault (Magic Mike’s Last Dance), and Brendan Fraser (The Whale).

Scripted by Gavras and Will Arbery (who won a WGA award for working on Succession), Sacrifice will show us what happens when a high end charity gala is raided by a violent group of radicals on a mystical quest to fulfill a prophecy. The script was just sent out to talent four days ago,...

Exclusive: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek Pinault and Brendan Fraser will star in Sacrifice, a film co-written and to be directed by Romain Gavras. Like his last film Athena that premiered last Venice and was released on Netflix, Sacrifice has a similar combustible and propulsive anarchy coursing through the film.

This is closer to satire, but the script by Gavras and Will Arbery was strong enough to compel the leads to commit over the span of four days since the script was sent to talent. More actors will be set shortly, and I expect that the project — CAA Media Finance is selling the world with Rocket Science — won’t have a lot of territories left by the time buyers hit the Croisette. All the elements are there to launch Gavras as a major writer-director, here making his first English-language film.

Here is the logline: a high end charity gala...

Cannes Classics, the festival’s selection for tributes and retrospectives, has announced the rest of its program after the previously-announced opening night film “Napoleon Par Abel Gance.”

Among the highlights are a restoration of Charles Vidor’s 1946 “Gilda” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures, with Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, attending. Wim Wenders will be on hand for a 40th anniversary screening of Palme d’Or winner “Paris, Texas,” while Faye Dunaway will be present for the screening of “Faye,” the first documentary about her life.

Ron Howard will present his documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man,” while Nanette Burstein brings the premiere of her documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.”

See the full program of Cannes Classics below.

100 years of Columbia Pictures

“Gilda”

Charles Vidor

1946, 1h50, United States

A Sony Pictures Entertainment presentation. Restoration from the original 35mm nitrate negative and a 35mm nitrate internegative.

Though festivals and distributors were very excited to sell you a “final” film by Jean-Luc Godard, Fabrice Aragno made clear Phony Wars would not be the last transmission. Continuing Tupac-like beyond-the-grave releases, it’s been announced this year’s Cannes Film Festival will include in their “Events” sidebar the “ultimate film by Jean-Luc Godard,” Scenarios, which I cannot possibly summarize better than their official description and thus:

Scenarios is the title that Jean-Luc Godard chose to give to a final 18-minute gesture, made, literally, the day before his voluntary death. Furthermore, Jean-Luc Godard recorded a 34-minute film in which, mixing still images and moving images, halfway between reading and vision, he presented the Scenarios project .

Worth noting that Scenario was, with Phony Wars, one of two films with which Godard planned to end his career. A project made with single-digit hours left on Earth… well, one’s mind reels at the potential.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Classics sidebar celebrates 20 years this year with a lineup of films including a 4K restoration of Wim Wenders’s Palme d’Or winning Paris, Texas, and a debut screening of Ron Howard’s 2024 doc Jim Henson Idea Man.

Wenders and Howard will be on the ground in Cannes, where they will present the films alongside Faye Dunaway, who will present the feature-long doc Faye about her life and career.

Other Cannes Classics screenings will include a 4k restoration of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai to mark the late Japanese filmmaker’s 70th birthday while Frederick Wiseman will present his 1969 documentary Law And Order. Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman will also attend to screen Charles Vidor’s 1946 film Gilda as part of a 100-year celebration of Columbia Pictures.

The sidebar will also screen Scénario, an 18-minute film by Jean-Luc Godard. The project was...

Click here to read the full article.

French filmmaker Romain Gavras is best known to the screen-watching world thanks to his arresting and visually ambitious music videos, which have included Jamie xx’s “Gosh,” Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild” and M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls,” among various others. But that could change when his third feature film, Athena, releases on Netflix on Sept. 23 after its world premiere this week in Venice.

The film arrives as if the perfect vehicle for Gavras background and ambitions. The youngest son of Oscar-winning Greek director, Costa-Gavras, and French political journalist and film producer, Michèle Ray-Gavras, Romain Gavras grew up steeped in the Greek classics and politically informed art and activism. In 1995, he co-founded the film collective Kourtrajmé with his childhood friends Kim Chapiron and Ladj Ly (director of the Oscar-nominated Les Misérables), and his second feature, The World Is Yours, debuted to...

San Sebastian — Though he’s been based in Paris since 1955 and came up through the French film industry, director Costa-Gavras has never forgotten his roots.

“Those who are born Greek,” said the Peloponnese-born filmmaker at a Saturday press conference, “stay Greek all their lives.”

The once-and-always Greek was not just in San Sebastian to present his latest film “The Adults in the Room,” a ripped-from-the-financial pages docudrama about one-time Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis; the filmmaker was also due to receive the festival’s Donostia Award, which he will accept at a ceremony on Saturday evening.

And so the conference assumed a fittingly career-spanning scope, as the 86-year-old filmmaker took questions about his filmography, his collaborators and his views on the current geopolitical climate.

“We need a Charlie Chaplin to make a movie about that Brazilian guy,” Gavras replied when asked about the situation in South America, indicating his disdain...

The project is based on the memoir by controversial former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

Adults In The Room, the first feature by Greek director Costa-Gavras to shoot in the filmmaker’s homeland, has sparked a row in the press and on social media in the country when it was announced the project will receive €630,000 in state funding via the country’s new cash rebate scheme.

It is being argued by some opposed to the controversial project that it is not the best use of public money in a cash-strapped country like Greece.

The film is based on the memoir Adults...

Icelandic feature Rams and Colombian rural drama Land and Shade take top prizes at Greek festival.Scroll down for full list of winners

Icelandic director Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrutar) has been named best film at the 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Nov 6-15) winning the Golden Alexander.

It beat competition from 13 other first and second films screened in this year’s particularly strong international competition section.

The film, awarded the Un Certain Regard top prize earlier this year in Cannes, deals with two brothers, who haven’t spoken to each other for over 40 years though living in neighbouring farms in a remote valley in Iceland raising sheep.

World sales are handled by Polish outfit New Europe Film Sales. It will be released in Greece by Ama Films.

Following a long tradition of Latin American productions sweeping the Thessaloniki awards, features from Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela shared the majority of the other official and side awards...

The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (November 6-14) offers busy industry programme including works in progress and Crossroads co-production strand.The 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival kicks off today with the Berlin prizewinner Victoria by Sebastian Schipper.

The festival closes Nov 14 with the Cannes awarded My Golden Days (Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse) by Arnaud Desplechin, who receives an homage, enjoys a full retrospective of his films and will deliver a masterclass.

Also receiving homages are veteran Romanian director Mircea Daneliuc and Greek master cinematographer Nikos Kavoukidis, accompanied by tributes to the 70 years of Greek animation and to the recent Austrian cinema.The late Belgian director Chantal.Akerman is receiving a special homage with the presentation of her 2011 film Almayer’s Folly (La folie Almayer).

The competition program includes 15 first and second films (the full list is below). The five members of the international jury set to award the Golden, Silver and Bronze...

Exclusive: Arab distributor Mad Solutions has picked up its second Toronto title with a film produced by Costa-Gavras.

Mad has acquired the Arab distribution rights to Let Them Come (Maintenant ils peuvent venir), the debut fiction feature of Salem Brahimi, which plays at the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 10-20) in theContemporary World Cinema strand.

The French-Algerian production is produced by Michèle Ray Gavras and film director Costa-Gavras.

The adaptation of Arezki Mellal’s novel revolves around a family that must defend itself amidst the onslaught of violence between government forces and radical Islamists in 1990s Algeria.

Alaa Karkouti, co-founder and managing partner at Mad Solutions, remarked on the importance of the acquisition. “The Arab world is awash with horrific stories, that come with a deluge of blood and terror, but rarely has this reality been represented in a film as powerfully as it has been in Let Them Come,” he said.

“Salem...