AMAZON IN TALKS FOR RIGHTS TO FOE: Amazon Studios is in talks for rights to Foe, with Garth Davis helming the thriller starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and LaKeith Stanfield. The film is based on the Iain Reid best-selling science fiction novel. “I’ve been on the hunt to do something in sci-fi, it was always on my bucket list, and also to find material I could make an actor’s piece with a Cassavetes-ian level of performance,” Davis told Deadline. “I read Foe and could not put it down. It’s incredibly suspenseful, very moving and dealt with sci-fi in a most grounded way that spoke to where we are heading as a society, with a lot of the questions we all have, explored in a profound way. And the love story just broke my heart, this story of self-determination, fighting for the things that are most precious in our lives, and reminding audiences that this time we have here is precious and the way we treat each other is the way we need to be treating the planet. Foe was just a bull’s-eye, for me.”
GREENLAND SELLS: In the first big Cannes deal, STX has earned the rights to Gerald Butler‘s action sequel Greenland: Migration. STX is shelling out $25 for the domestic rights. The project is set to shoot in 2022.
EMMA ROBERTS’ BELLETRIST TEAMS WITH BOOKCLUB: Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss‘ online community Belletrist is teaming up with the virtual platform BookClub on a book selection for every month. The experience is billed as immersive, with Roberts and Preiss set to host video content with authors as they discuss their books. First up is New York Times bestselling author Lisa Taddeo‘s debut novel Animal, which is described as “a depiction of female rage at its rawest, and a visceral exploration of the fallout from a male-dominated society.”
DARK STAR SCOOPS UP FREELAND: L.A.-based Dark Star Pictures has snagged the North American rights to Freeland, Mario Furloni and Kate McLeana‘s feature debut which recently bowed at SXSW. Freeland stars Krisha Fairchild (Waves), alongside Lily Gladstone (First Cow), Frank Mosley (The Carnivores), Cameron James Matthews and Michelle Maxson. It follows a pot farmer who has been breeding strains herself for decades. When cannabis is legalized, she is in the fight for the survival of her business.