Mexican director Michel Franco has been making waves for years on the festival circuit with films such as Cannes winner “After Lucia,” “New Order,” and “April’s Daughter.” His latest English-language effort, “Sundown,” starring actors Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg as siblings, made its debut at last year’s Venice Film Festival and was in limited release domestically back in January thanks to distributor Bleecker Street. There is now some intel on what Franco will be doing next and it looks to be another project using English-speaking actors.
Ion Cinema has revealed the eighth, untitled film from Franco will have some impressive acting talent attached to it including recent Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye“) and Peter Sarsgaard (“Dopesick,” “The Batman“) taking the lead roles. The project that is said to revolve around an “NYC staycation.”
Chastain’s recent Best Actress statue win at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony for her performance as Tammy Faye Baker came after a recent string of studio hiccups such as the final 20th Century Fox era “X–Men” film “Dark Phoenix,” and the action pic “Ava” co-starring Colin Farrell that moved directly to video on demand. Chastain also starred in spy flick “The 355” which was a potential franchise starter at Universal that had a promising concept alongside a fantastic supporting cast, but failed to hit studio box office expectations.
The Playlist’s own review of “Sundown” from the Venice Film Festival called Franco’s drama “a distinctively cerebral rumination.”
A wealthy man is vacationing with loved ones at a resort in Acapulco, Mexico until he receives a phone call. There’s been a death in the family, and everyone must return home. However, the man pretends to lose his passport, which delays his return.
As far as Franco’s new project goes, we’ll just have to be patient for an official title along with plot and character details.