StudioCanal has acquired U.K. rights to Mike Leigh’s secretive and untitled next project, marking the first time the distributor has worked with the iconic director.
The deal sees StudioCanal take over from eOne, which had been handling U.K. on the project in 2020 before it was stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bleecker Street still has North American rights, also collaborating with Leigh and his Thin Man Films for the first time.
Untitled Mike Leigh 2023 — which The Hollywood Reporter recently revealed will start shooting this year — is being sold by Cornerstone Films. It comes backed by Film4, which has a long history of supporting Leigh’s work and will co-finance alongside Creativity Media. The Mediapro Studio will co-produce, together with Thin Man Films, and will acquire Spanish rights. Natixis Coficine are providing cash flow finance. Georgina Lowe produces, with Gail Egan as executive producer.
As with much of Leigh’s work, nothing else is known about the feature, with the seven-time Oscar nominee working under his typical veil of absolute secrecy. The project will mark his first film since his Amazon-backed 2018 period epic Peterloo. The Venice-bowing film explored the events surrounding the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, which saw cavalry charge into a crowd of people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation and which is considered one of the most notorious and defining moments in U.K. history.
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