In an official statement, Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American, Latin American and Eastern European rights to Jacques Audiard’s (A Prophet) Rust and Bone from Hengameh Panahi of Celluloid Dreams. The film recently wrapped production.
The film was co-written by Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain and adapted from the acclaimed book of short stories by Craig Davidson (Sarah Court). Just as he did with the prison genre in A Prophet, Jacques Audiard will renew the love story with Rust and Bone, his stirring new film filled with romance and suspense.
Rust and Bone stars Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) and Matthias Schoenarts (Bullhead), and is produced by Pascal Caucheteux, who SPC had previously worked with on the features, Of Gods & Men and A Prophet.
“Jacques Audiard is one of Europe’s finest directors, and the same goes for producer Pascal Caucheteux. We are thrilled to be working with them, and Hengameh Panahi of Celluloid Dreams, once again,” said Sony Pictures Classics.
What’s it Really About: The press release says a love story filled with romance and suspense, but for further clarification here’s a synopsis from Davidson’s short story collection.
IN STEEL-TIPPED PROSE, Craig Davidson conjures a savage world populated by fighting dogs, prizefighters, sex addicts, and gamblers. The twenty-seven bones of the title story are the bones in a boxer’s hands; once broken, they never heal properly, and the fighter’s career descends to bouts that have less to do with sport than with survival: no referee, no rules, not even gloves.
Davidson’s stories are small monuments to the telling detail. The hostility of his fictional universe is tempered by the humanity he invests in his characters and by his subtle and very moving observations of their motivations. He shares with Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) the uncanny ability to compel our attention, time and time again, to the most difficult subject matter.
The Pulse: Having read up on Audiard’s film, the title has quickly moved up several notches on my must-see list. A list that already includes The Dark Knight Rises (duh), as well as some titles that may not be on everyone radar…yet. Titles like Cogan’s Trade, Seven Psychopaths, Headhunters, and Mud.
