Back in August, we reported that Equals director Drake Doremus was setting up another sci-fi love story, this time with Charlie Hunnam and Léa Seydoux. However, details were scarce on the project, and we didn’t have a title or a synopsis for the movie.
Thankfully, those details have now arrived. In a press releasing announcing that they will fully finance the picture, IM Global has revealed that the film is titled Zoe, and provided the following synopsis:
Written by Rich Greenberg (The Beauty Inside), the story follows two colleagues (played by Hunnam and Seydoux) at a revolutionary research lab who design technology to improve and perfect romantic relationships. As their work progresses, their discoveries become more profound than they could ever have imagined.
Doremus loves his love stories (his previous films also include Like Crazy and Breathe In), but he keeps finding interesting new angles on human relationships, and I’m interested to see what he does with Zoe.
According to the press release, production will commence on location in Montreal in April 2017.
Hunnam has a busy 2017 ahead of him as he’ll be seen in the acclaimed The Lost City of Z as well as the likely-to-be-less-acclaimed King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. As for Seydoux, she recently co-starred in Xavier Dolan’s latest film, It’s Only the End of the World.
Check out the full press release below.
IM GLOBAL BOARDS ‘ZOE’ FROM DRAKE DOREMUS AND SCOTT FREE PRODUCTIONS
LOVE STORY STARS CHARLIE HUNNAM AND LÉA SEYDOUX
Los Angeles, CA, October 25, 2016 – Prolific independent entertainment studio IM Global will fully finance the love story ZOE from acclaimed director Drake Doremus (Like Crazy, Equals, Breath In), it was announced today by IM Global’s Founder and CEO Stuart Ford and President of Production Greg Shapiro.
ZOE will star Charlie Hunnam (Children of Men, Sons of Anarchy, Pacific Rim) and Léa Seydoux (Spectre, The Grand Budapest Hotel), with production commencing on location in Montreal in April 2017.
The picture will be produced by Scott Free’s Michael Pruss alongside Doremus, and Robert George. Ridley Scott will executive produce along with Ford, Shapiro and Kate Buckley. IM Global is also handling international sales with UTA representing domestic rights.
Written by Rich Greenberg (The Beauty Inside), the story follows two colleagues (played by Hunnam and Seydoux) at a revolutionary research lab who design technology to improve and perfect romantic relationships. As their work progresses, their discoveries become more profound than they could ever have imagined.
Said Ford, “Greg and I are both long time admirers of Drake’s talent. With ZOE we feel as if he is come up with a potentially commercial and critical success, and he has already attached an outstandingly talented cast in Charlie and Léa. We’re genuinely excited about the film’s global box office potential.”
Said Scott, "We are delighted to be working with Drake again after what was a very satisfying experience making Equals together. He has assembled a fascinating cast for this next project and we are very much looking to continuing what has been a very successful collaboration."
Doremus is repped by UTA, Kate Buckley at 42, Lawrence Kopeikin at Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner & Gellman. Greenberg is repped by Sandra Lucchesi at Gersh and Dean Silvers.
Hunnam is repped by Michael Cooper at CAA, Cynthia Pett at Brillstein, and David Weber at Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Seydoux is repped by Stephanie Ritz at WME, Dallas Smith at United Agents, and Gregory Weill at Adequat.
Lawrence Kopeikin of Morris Yorn negotiated the deal on behalf of Drake Doremus and Justin Alvarado-Brown on behalf of Scott Free. SVP of Acquisitions & Co-productions John Zois and General Counsel Deborah Zipser negotiated on behalf of IM Global.
Earlier this year, Los Angeles-based Tang Media Partners assumed a controlling ownership position in IM Global to help accelerate the company’s growth initiatives. Simultaneously, TMP arranged a new, expanded television production joint venture, IM Global Television, among IM Global, TMP and Tencent Holdings, which includes an innovative first-of-its kind programming investment fund also arranged by TMP. In addition, last month, IM Global launched a new PR and marketing unit GO Global, which is focused on representing Chinese media companies, brands and talent in the international festival arena.
IM Global has financed and/or produced over thirty Hollywood feature films deploying more than $500 million in production capital. The prolific indie studio is a partner on forthcoming awards contenders Hacksaw Ridge from director Mel Gibson, and Martin Scorsese's Silence. Also slated for a nationwide December release is Blumhouse co-production Incarnate starring Aaron Eckhart and supernatural thriller The Autopsy of Jane Doe with Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox, which had its World Premiere in Toronto Film Festival's Midnight Madness section. The company was a financing partner on Gary Ross's Free State of Jones and produced and financed Julia Roberts starrer Secret In Their Eyes directed by Billy Ray, both released earlier this year. IM Global's critically acclaimed Barack and Michelle Obama's first date drama Southside with You was recently released nationwide by Miramax and Roadside Attractions. IM Global has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Munich, Mumbai, Mexico City, Beijing and Shanghai.
Scott Free Productions was formed in 1995 and is the film and television production vehicle of acclaimed film directors, brothers Ridley and Tony Scott. The company is responsible for some of the most successful films ever made – including Top Gun, Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien, American Gangster, Thelma and Louise and Black Hawk Down. Scott Free films have received over 60 Academy Award® nominations. Scott Free Productions recently released the Academy Award® nominated and critically-acclaimed box office phenomenon The Martian starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain, Equals starring Kristin Stewart and Nicholas Hoult, and the football drama Concussion starring Will Smith and Alec Baldwin. Scott Free has offices in Los Angeles and London in conjunction with RSA Films, one of the world’s largest and most successful commercial production houses.