EXCLUSIVE: FilmNation has bulked up its red-hot EFM slate with international rights to Sing Street, the latest project from John Carney.
In what promises to be a heady brew, Carney’s long-time friends Bono and The Edge of U2 will compose original music. The pair are in talks to be involved in the film in another, as yet unspecified capacity.
Carney is currently working on the screenplay to the semi-autobiographical Sing Street, which will be a co-production with Anthony Bregman of Likely Story in partnership with Kevin Frakes of PalmStar and Raj Brinder Singh for Merced Media Partners in the US and Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass for FilmWave out of the UK. Carney will also produce through his Distressed Films.
The 1980s-set story is scheduled to shoot this summer in Dublin and centres on Cosmo, a 14-year-old Dubliner dealing with the stress of his parent’s marriage, a drop-out brother and bullies at a new school.
The youngster forms a band then heads off to London with his aspiring model girlfriend in search of fame and fortune. WME represents US rights.
“John Carney has carved out a genre of his own — beautiful, soulful movies packed with longing, love and music,” said Bregman. “Sing Street is his Cinema Paradiso — the musical film answer to where it all came from.”
Bregman and Carney worked together on Can A Song Save Your Life?, one of the runaway hits of Toronto last September that sparked the most talked-about acquisition of the festival.
Harvey Weinstein paid $7m and committed to a $20m p&a spend on the Keira Knightley starrer and will release the comedy-romance later this year.
FilmNation’s packed EFM sales slate includes courtroom drama The Whole Truth from director Courtney Hunt to star Daniel Craig and A Most Violent Year, JC Chandor’s follow-up to All Is Lost that stars Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.
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