Neon is back in business with Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, acquiring worldwide on his recent TIFF world premiere, The Christophers starring Michaela Coel, Ian McKellen, Jessica Gunning and James Corden.
Neon previously acquired and released earlier this year, Soderbergh’s ghost house thriller Presence. The distrib picked up the movie following its 2024 Sundance Film Festival world premiere.
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A 2026 theatrical release is being eyed. Neon will rep offshore sales rights.
Pic follows Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen), a onetime star of London’s 1960’s and 70’s pop art explosion, who hasn’t painted in decades and has been broke for years. His two estranged children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning), desperate for an inheritance, hire Lori, an art restorer and former forger (Michaela Coel), to pose as a prospective assistant in order to access eight unfinished canvases Julian has buried deep in storage. Her plan is to complete them, then return them to storage, where they are to be “discovered” upon Julian’s death.
The Christophers was produced and financed by Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer of Department M and written by Ed Solomon. The Christophers reps Soderbergh’s fourth reteam with the scribe following the limited series Mosaic, and the movies Full Circle and No Sudden Move.
Pic was also produced by Butler & Sklar Productions with Jim Parks and Iain A. Canning serving as producers and Corey Bayes serving as executive producer. The deal was negotiated by Alison Cohen on behalf of Neon with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers.
The Christophers stands at 97% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Also out of TIFF, Neon recently acquired the U.S. rights to Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. Neon has five titles selected by their home countries as official selections for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards. This includes, Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner, It Was Just An Accident, for France, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice for South Korea, Joachim Trier’s Grand-Prix winner, Sentimental Value for Norway, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Cannes prize winner, The Secret Agent for Brazil; and Oliver Laxe’s Sirât for Spain.
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