“Beanpole” director Kantemir Balago is putting together their next feature film effort with “Butterfly Jam” and should peak interest given the two names circling it. A new report from Variety reveals that this latest project is aiming to hire rising talent in lead roles as the Russian filmmaker is in talks to add Barry Keoghan (“Banshees of Inisherin”) and Riley Keough to lead the pic that will explore a group of tight-knit Circassian immigrants in the United States.
“Butterfly Jam” focuses on “a complicated relationship between a father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess.”
Given the brief logline, We must assume that Keoghan is being eyed to play the son role.
The producing team should be familiar with Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions, which produced Oscars hopeful “Emilia Perez” holding 13 total nominations. Why Not Productions will join Alexander Rodnyansky’s AR Content, who will produce and finance “Butterfly Jam.”
Keoghan has been a rising talent from Ireland with awards-caliber films like “Banshees of Inisherin” (which helped land him a Best Supporting Actor nomination) and “Saltburn” thrusting the young man into the spotlight alongside blockbuster roles in Marvel’s “Eternals,” and briefly playing the Joker in “The Batman” (could make an appearance in Gotham in the coming years with fellow rogue, Colin Farrell).
Riley Keough has been a busy bee, too, by establishing herself in Hollywood with “Logan Lucky,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and her further breakout Amazon Prime Video series “Daisy Jones & The Six.”
Immigrant stories are obviously strong dramatic material, as we saw last year with “The Brutalist,” which tackles the fictional story of a Jewish-Hungarian architect traveling from wartorn Europe to the United States, hoping to find the American Dream.
This venture will be the filmmaker’s second time dipping their toes into the world of Hollywood. You might remember that Balagov had been secured to direct the pilot for HBO’s “The Last of Us” only to exit and have 40% of that shot footage reportedly making it into the final version after co-creator/showrunner Craig Mazin took over.
Balagov tapping Keoghan and Keough is undoubtedly a great start, and we can’t wait to see who else will be added to the call sheet. Stay tuned as we’ll keep an eye on who else joins “Butterfly Jam.”
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