“The Substance” distributor Mubi is pursuing its buying spree with another anticipated film from an internationally celebrated auteur, Paolo Sorrentino (“Parthenope,” “The Great Beauty”).
The global distributor, streaming service and production company has bought Sorrrentino’s next movie “La Grazia” for worldwide rights excluding Italy and will retain all rights in North America, Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia and New Zealand, with theatrical release plans to be announced in the coming months. The Match Factory will sell the remaining territories.
A love story, the exact plot of which remains under wraps, “La Grazia” marks Sorrentino’s follow up to “Parthenope” which launched from Cannes and scored record-breaking grosses at the Italian box office. “La Grazia,” which translates into English as “Grace,” reteams the Oscar-winning director with “The Great Beauty” actor Toni Servillo.
“La Grazia” was being courted by at least two other major distributors at the European Film Market, including Pathé, a long-term partner for Sorrentino, which was ultimately outbid by Mubi.
Mubi’s founder and CEO, Efe Cakarel, who fiercely chased the project, said “Paolo Sorrentino has always been a master of cinematic poetry, but ‘La Grazia’ is something truly special—profound, melancholic, and wickedly sharp in its contemplation of power, influence, and the weight of history—all told with Sorrentino’s singular elegance and wit.”
“We at Mubi are honored to be the home for this film and cannot wait to share its brilliance with audiences worldwide,” Cakarel continued.
Sorrentino, meanwhile, said he was “extremely happy that La Grazia will be travelling around the world thanks to our two great partners, Mubi and The Match Factory, and feel fortunate to be able to count on their incredible expertise.”
Servillo, who is expected to play a leading role in “La Grazia,” is best known to international audiences for his memorable turn as Roman writer and socialite Jep Gambardella who embarks on a Dantesque descent amid the Eternal City’s grotesque glitterati in “The Great Beauty,” which won the 2014 best international film Oscar.
Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” is the latest auteur-driven prestige project to join Mubi’s all-star slate for 2025, alongside Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother,” starring Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver; “The History of Sound,” Oliver Hermanus‘s anticipated gay romance drama starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor.
Riding high in the awards season, Mubi scored with Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” which became its first widely released movie in the U.S. and earned five major Oscar nominations, including best picture, director and actress for Demi Moore. Led by Efe Cakarel, a London-based cinephile and idealist, Mubi is also behind Magnus von Horn’s “The Girl With the Needle,” which is nominated for best international feature.
Sorrentino will start shooting “La Grazia,” his eleventh feature film, in March. It’s a Fremantle film with Annamaria Morelli producing for Fremantle-owned The Apartment – of which Morelli is the chief executive – and by Sorrentino’s own outfit Numero 10, in association with Italy’s PiperFilm. The latter will also be distributing “La Grazia” in Italy.
