Emma Thompson & Pierce Brosnan, 'Celeste And Jesse' & 'Frankenstein's Army'

Paul Giamatti, Paul Rudd, Sally Hawkins To Star In ‘Lucky Dog’: Berlin
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Berlin Market And Festival Kick Off In Flurry Of Last-Minute Momentum

As I mentioned in my Berlin preview, announcements are coming fast and furious at the EFM despite a lack of pre-market momentum. Below is a roundup of some of today’s highlights:

France’s SND will finance, co-produce and handle worldwide distribution on Love Punch from Last Chance Harvey director Joel Hopkins, who’ll reteam here with that film’s star Emma Thompson. Pierce Brosnan also toplines the film to shoot this summer in the UK, Paris and on the French Riviera. The duo play a divorced couple on the track of an unscrupulous businessman who has stolen their retirement money. SND is a company to watch. It was a 10% stakeholder in Summit up until Lionsgate’s recent acquisition of that company and I understand it’s on the hunt for new investments. …

Sierra/Affinity has taken on international sales for Sundance premiere Celeste And Jesse Forever in a deal financed by PalmStar Media Capital. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the film for domestic at Sundance last month. The Leo Toland Krieger-directed relationship comedy stars Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts, Chris Messina and Ari Graynor. Jones and Will McCormack wrote the screenplay. …

The King’s Speech and Woman In Black distributor Momentum Pictures has acquired horror film Frankenstein’s Army for the UK. The MPI/Dark Sky Films, XYZ Films and Pellicola co-production is currently shooting. MPI and XYZ (which produced Gareth Evans’ martial arts hit The Raid) are handling international sales here in Berlin. The premise sees a group of Russian World War II soldiers stumble across a secret Nazi lab that’s experimenting with the journal of Dr. Viktor Frankenstein to assemble an army of supersoldiers stitched together from a combination of body parts of their fallen comrades, weapons and machinery. Dutch first-timer Richard Raaphorst wrote and is directing the picture.