Blue Fox Lands Toni Collette-Harvey Keitel Comedy ‘Madame’; IFC Films Acquires ‘Killing For Love’ Docu

Blue Fox Entertainment has picked up US rights for Madame, the comedy starring Toni Collette and Harvey Keitel, and are planning a theatrical and VOD day-and-date release for Spring 2018. French filmmaker Amanda Sthers wrote and directed the pic, which marked her English-language directorial debut. The story follows Anne (Collette) and Bob (Keitel), a wealthy, well-connected American couple in Paris. While preparing a luxurious dinner for friends, Anne discovers there are only 13 guests and employs her loyal maid Maria to disguise as a mysterious Spanish noblewoman to even out the numbers. Maria falls for a dandy British art broker and their budding romance soon has Anne chasing her maid around Paris, reinventing the truth and finally plotting to destroy this most unexpected and joyous love affair. Spanish actress Rossy de Palma and Michael Smiley co-star. Studiocanal fully financed the project. Todd Slater brokered the deal on behalf of Blue Fox with Anne Chérel and Loubna Berrada on behalf of Studiocanal.

IFC Films has secured U.S. territory distribution rights to Marcus Vetter and Karin Steinberger’s documentary, Killing For Love, about the 1990 case of Jens Soering, who was convicted of brutally murdering his girlfriend’s parents and is serving a double life sentence in a Virginia prison. The prosecution argued this was a killing for love. The film is said to offer new insight on the trial that reveals critical facts supporting Soering’s declarations of innocence. The pic, produced by Vetter, Louise Rosen, and Ulf Meyer, will get a day-and-date release on December 15. German film funds MFG, DFFF, and broadcasters SWR, Arte, BR, DR, BBC, SVT, and VPRO financed the project. Rosen and Consulting Producer Peter Broderick negotiated the deal with IFC/Sundance Selects. Business affairs for the producers were handled by Iddo Arad of Frankfurt Kernit Klein & Selz.