Focus Features has acquired out of the Cannes Virtual Market the U.S. rights to “The Card Counter,” the most recent movie from director Paul Schrader that stars Oscar Isaac, the studio introduced Monday.
“The Card Counter” is Schrader’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated “First Reformed,” and the movie co-stars Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe in what’s described as a revenge thriller government produced by Martin Scorsese.
The movie is a revenge thriller following Isaac as William Tell, a gambler and former serviceman who units out to reform a younger man looking for revenge on a mutual enemy from their previous. Here’s the total synopsis:
Tell (Isaac) simply needs to play playing cards. His spartan existence on the on line casino path is shattered when he’s approached by Cirk (Sheridan), a weak and offended younger man looking for assist to execute his plan for revenge on a army colonel (Dafoe). Tell sees an opportunity at redemption by his relationship with Cirk. But preserving Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves unattainable, dragging Tell again into the darkness of his previous.
Focus Features will distribute “The Card Counter” within the U.S. and Universal Pictures International will distribute internationally in UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, ANZ, China, SE Asia (excluding Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and tv), Japan, South Korea, Latin America and airways.
Producers on “The Card Counter” are Braxton Pope, Lauren Mann and David Wulf. The movie’s government producers are Scorsese, William Olsson, Lee Broda, Ruben Islas and Stanley Preschutti. This marks the fifth collaboration between Schrader and Scorsese, who beforehand labored collectively on “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “Bringing Out the Dead.”
“The folks at Focus are the best at what they do. Over the years I’ve been jealous of directors in the Focus fold. Now happily I am one,” Schrader stated in a press release.
“At a time when many of us are left wondering whether it’s our circumstances that corrupt souls or if it’s corrupt souls that create the circumstances, no one can say for sure, but has anyone explored this more in film than Paul Schrader,” Focus chairman Peter Kujawski stated in a press release. “All of us at Focus can’t wait to hear and see what Paul has to say now more than ever before, and we’re very proud to help him bring this story to the world.”
Production on “The Card Counter” shut down in March with simply 5 days remaining in manufacturing, and Schrader stated on a current panel dialogue with Deadline that the movie would resume the week of July 6. Schrader had accomplished a “90% cut” of the movie and confirmed it to patrons as a part of the Cannes Virtual Market, however the movie was barely rewritten following Schrader’s modifying course of.
In the interview with Deadline, Schrader stated “The Card Counter” is about poker simply as a lot as his script for “Taxi Driver” is about cabbies. It’s a movie a few man who feels responsible for his previous sins and was punished and rejected from society, however he nonetheless has his personal ethical dilemma. His concept for poker as a metaphor for an individual drifting by life got here when he lastly noticed individuals sitting for hours in a World Series of Poker occasion.
“You just sit here and you run numbers 12 hours a day, and you just sit here…You’ve found a successful way not to exist,” Schrader stated. “All gambling movies are about being a winner, and this is not about winning in that way.”
“The Card Counter” additionally reunites Schrader with a few of his collaborators on “First Reformed,” together with cinematographer Alexander Dynan and editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. Production leads additionally embody costume designer Lisa Madonna and manufacturing designer Ashley Fenton.
Focus Features has been significantly energetic in the marketplace as properly, having not too long ago launched Jon Stewart’s “Irresistible” and not too long ago scooping up James Gray’s subsequent movie “Armageddon Time”…
