Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all U.S. rights for “The Beast,” which was written and directed by Bertrand Bonello, the filmmaker behind “Saint Laurent.”
The film is an adaptation of Henry James’ novella “The Beast in the Jungle.” It features a glossy cast that includes “No Time to Die” star Léa Seydoux and “1917” breakout George MacKay, along with Guslagie Malanda, Dasha Nekrasova, Martin Scali, Élina Löwensohn, Marta Hoskins, Julia Faure, Kester Lovelace, Félicien Pinot, and Laurent Lacote.The film is a Les Films du Bélier, My New Picture and Sons of Manual Production, and is produced by Justin Taurand and Bertrand Bonello.
The movie has updated James’ tale quite liberally, setting it in the near future where artificial intelligence reigns supreme and emotions are seen as dangerous. It follows Gabrielle (Seydoux) as she works to purify her DNA. Safe to say none of these things were preoccupations for James, who shuffled off this mortal coil in 1916, quite a bit of time before ChatGPT hit the scene or Watson and Crick did a thing.
“The Beast” screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, and had its U.S. premiere this weekend at the New York Film Festival in the main slate. Sideshow and Janus Films will release the film theatrically in 2024.
The deal was negotiated by Sideshow and Janus Films with Kinology on behalf of the filmmakers. The film is co-produced by Nancy Grant and Xavier Dolan, Arte France Cinéma, Ami Paris and Jamal Zeinal-Zade.
