Fast-rising Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts (the Bullhead star who also appears alongside Marion Cotillard in Cannes competition entry
Rust And Bone) is in talks to star in new thriller The Treatment.

To be directed by Hans Herbots, the film is an adaptation of Mo Hayder’s international bestseller. It is being produced through Eyeworks Belgium and is billed as a dark thriller in the vein of The Silence Of The Lambs and Seven.

Also new on Eyeworks slate is Marina, thelatest feature Oscar-nominated director Stijn Coninx. The film deals with Italian migration to Belgium after the Second World War. It is based on the true story of the Italian-Belgian singer Rocco Granata who, as a 10-year-old, left his village in Calabria to join his father (then working in a Belgian coal mine.)

Granata overcame poverty and discrimination to emerge as a hugely successful songwriter and accordionist. The $3.5 million (€2.8 million) feature is a coproduction with the Dardenne brothers’ outfit Les Films Du Fleuve and Oriza in Italy. The VAF has also contributed funding. Eyeworks’ Peter Bouckaert confirmed that the company is in advanced negotiations to appoint a sales agent. Production is expected to begin later this year.

Also in the pipeline at Eyeworks is The Trial, the new feature from the prolific Jan Verheyen which is due to shoot next year.

Topics