Sony Pictures Classics picks up Florian Zeller’s ‘The Son’ with Laura Dern, Hugh Jackman and Vanessa Kirby

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all rights in the US, South East Asia, China, India, Eastern Europe and Turkey to The Son starring Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman, Academy Award winner Laura Dern, and Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby. The film is directed by Academy Award winner Florian Zeller, who adapted the script from his acclaimed stage play alongside Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton. The producers are Academy Award winners Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (Ammonite, Lion, The King’s Speech), Joanna Laurie of See-Saw Films, Christophe Spadone (The Father) and Florian Zeller. The film will be funded by Film4 and Ingenious Media and will begin production in August. 

Executive Producers are Hugh Jackman, Simon Gillis for See-Saw Films, Daniel Battsek, Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4, Philippe Carcassonne for Ciné-@, Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar for Embankment and Peter Touche and Christelle Conan for Ingenious Media. 

Sony Pictures Classics previously released The Father, also directed by Zeller from a script by Zeller and Hampton. That film earned six Academy Award nominations earlier this year, winning two (Best Actor for Hopkins and Best Adapted Screenplay for Zeller and Hampton). 

The Son follows Peter (Hugh Jackman) as his busy life with new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and their baby is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) arrives with their troubled and distant teenage son, setting the family on a dangerous collision course. 

Florian Zeller said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to tell this story, and to do it with this extraordinary cast and for such a wonderful partner in Sony Classics. After our collaboration on The Father, I could not ask for a better home for The Son.” 

Sony Pictures Classics added, “Florian Zeller and Chris Hampton have written a truly remarkable screenplay. Florian is a masterful filmmaker and we know he will once again surround himself with the very best actors and crew imaginable. The family from The Father continues with producers Christophe Spadone and Philippe Carcassonne and our friends at Embankment and Film4, joining Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and their Seesaw team alongside Peter Touche and Ingenious. The Son promises to be one of those rich deep dramas embraced by audiences everywhere and the kind of movie people will keep coming back to watch again and again.” 

See-Saw Films producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman said, “We are so pleased to be working with Sony Pictures Classics on the release of The Son. Florian is a rare director who creates a visceral viewing experience that is exhilarating and deeply intimate and we are looking forward to working with Sony Pictures Classics on bringing the film to audiences.” 

The deal was negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers by CAA Media Finance, Embankment and Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm. Embankment and Cross City Films are handling international sales on the film and Cross City Films and CAA Media Finance are co-representing domestic rights. 

Photos: Dick Thomas Johnson/Georges Biard/MTV UK

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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