Movies

Focus Features Buys Cannes Opener Everybody Knows

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BREAKING: Focus Features won a late night auction for Everybody Knows, the Spanish language Asghar Farhadi film that opened the Cannes Film Festival last night with a glamorous Palais premiere that featured stars Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Ricardo Darín. Focus will distribute in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, select Asian territories and the Middle East, apart from Iran. Focus had previously acquired rights in Spain last year. Multiple bidders chased the film, including Netflix.

On the heels of his second Academy-Award winner The Salesman following his first for A Separation, Farhadi wrote and directed this film. It follows Laura (Cruz) on her travels from Argentina to her small home town in Spain for her sisters wedding, bringing her two children along for the occasion. Amid the joyful reunion and festivities, the eldest daughter is abducted. In the tense days that follow, various family and community tensions surface and deeply hidden secrets are revealed.

“Asghar is a world-class filmmaker whose work transcends language,” said Focus chairman Peter Kujawski. “Matching his talents with these emotionally charged performances from Penelope, Javier and Ricardo will leave audiences captivated.”

Everybody Knows is produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films and Álvaro Longoria of Morena Films.

UTA Indie Film Group and Memento Films International negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmaking team. Farhadi is represented by UTA.

The film is released today in France in 430 theaters after opening yesterday with one screening per theater. It did 30,000 admissions and $250,000 USD box office business, which is a rousing start.

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