THE SON Film Project (Potential SPOILERS)

[jo]

Maybe we should open a new thread for Hugh Jackman's new film project.

[jo]

Breaking News Headline on Deadline.com --

deadline.com/2021/04/hugh-jackman-laura-dern-the-son-father-florian-zeller-follow-up-1234734035/

Hugh Jackman & Laura Dern To Star In Florian Zeller’s ‘The Son’, See-Saw To Produce Follow-Up To Oscar-Nominee ‘The Father’
By Andreas Wiseman

Hugh Jackman & Laura Dern To Star In Florian Zeller’s ‘The Son’, See-Saw To Produce Follow-Up To Oscar-Nominee ‘The Father’

April 14, 2021 6:30am

Hugh Jackman / Laura Dern
Ben Watts / Agency Courtesy


Oscar-nominee Hugh Jackman and Oscar-winner Laura Dern have been set to star in blue-chip feature drama The Son, writer-director Florian Zeller’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated movie The Father.

Oscar-winners Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech), and Joanna Laurie of See-Saw Films, produce with Christophe Spadone (The Father) alongside Zeller. Film4 are co-financing production.

Cross City Films and Embankment are launching international sales, with Cross City Films and CAA Media Finance co-representing U.S. rights.

Adapted by Zeller and Oscar-winner Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), from Zeller’s acclaimed stage play, The Son focuses on Peter (Hugh Jackman) as his busy life with new partner Emma and their baby is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas. The young man is is troubled, distant, and angry, playing truant from school for months. Peter strives to be a better father, searching to help his son with those intimate and instinctive moments of family happiness. But the weight of Nicholas’ condition sets the family on a dangerous course.



Writer-director Florian Zeller said: “The Son is a deeply human story which, I believe, connects us all; I hope audiences will be profoundly moved by this family’s journey. Both Hugh and Laura naturally convey great warmth, compassion, and vulnerability… inviting our audience to embrace and feel every moment. The story is set in a vibrant and very much alive New York, an important character. The movie should make us call family and friends to tell them that they are wholly loved and not alone.”

Zeller is currently enjoying acclaim for his debut movie The Father, released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics in February. The film, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, has won two BAFTAs and is nominated for six Oscars Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Production Design, Leading Actor and Supporting Actress.

See-Saw’s Iain Canning and Emile Sherman commented: “Having been lucky enough to see The Father at Sundance 2019 we knew that Florian was a uniquely talented filmmaker. The Son is a story that needs to be told – a story that rings an alarm. Through examining the human condition and our vulnerabilities, this film will strike a chord with audiences and leave an indelible mark on all who see it.”


Executive producers are Hugh Jackman, Simon Gillis for See-Saw Films, Daniel Battsek, Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4, Philippe Carcassonne for Ciné-@ and Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar for Embankment.

Hugh Jackman is represented by WME and Lou Coulson Associates. Laura Dern is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. Florian Zeller is represented by CAA. Christopher Hampton is represented by CAA and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

[jo]

If I may, hughmanity

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern to Star in ‘The Son,’ From ‘The Father’ Director Florian Zeller and Cowriter Christopher Hampton

By Leo Barraclough

Plus Icon
Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern Star in
Courtesy of Ben Watts


Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern will star in “The Son,” writer-director Florian Zeller’s follow-up to the BAFTA winning and Academy Award nominated “The Father.” The film is adapted from Zeller’s acclaimed stage play by Zeller and Christopher Hampton, who is Oscar nominated for adapting “The Father” with Zeller, and who won an Oscar with “Dangerous Liaisons,” and was Oscar nominated with “Atonement.”

Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, who were Oscar nominated for best picture for “Lion,” and won the best picture Oscar for “The King’s Speech,” and Joanna Laurie of See-Saw Films produce with Christophe Spadone (“The Father”), alongside Zeller. Film4 is co-financing production.

Cross City Films and Embankment are launching international sales on “The Son,” while Cross City and CAA Media Finance are co-representing the U.S. rights.



In “The Son,” Peter (Jackman) has a busy life with new partner Emma and their baby. This is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas.

We sense something is amiss from the first moment we meet Nicholas. He is troubled, distant, and angry, playing truant from school for months – both son and mother need his father’s help. Nicholas’s wish is to live with his father for a change.

Peter strives to be a better father, searching to help his son with those intimate and instinctive moments of family happiness – to solve, with understanding, what Nicholas is going through. But the weight of Nicholas’ condition sets the family on a dangerous course. They must do everything they can to maintain the bonds that hold them together.



Zeller said: “‘The Son’ is a deeply human story which, I believe, connects us all; I hope audiences will be profoundly moved by this family’s journey. Both Hugh and Laura naturally convey great warmth, compassion, and vulnerability… inviting our audience to embrace and feel every moment. The story is set in a vibrant and very much alive New York, an important character. The movie should make us call family and friends to tell them that they are wholly loved and not alone.”


Zeller is enjoying acclaim for his debut movie “The Father,” released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics on Feb. 26. The film won two BAFTAs and is nominated for six academy Awards for best picture, adapted screenplay, editing, production design, leading actor and supporting actress.

See-Saw’s Canning and Sherman said: “Having been lucky enough to see ‘The Father’ at Sundance 2019 we knew that Florian was a uniquely talented filmmaker. ‘The Son’ is a story that needs to be told – a story that rings an alarm. Through examining the human condition and our vulnerabilities, this film will strike a chord with audiences and leave an indelible mark on all who see it.”

Embankment’s Tim Haslam said: “For the audience, ‘The Son’ is visceral, authentic, compelling, and cathartic; intimately close to decisions that many families have to make. ‘The Son’ makes us respond, reconnect with those around us, with the gift of understanding and awareness.”


Executive producers are Jackman, Simon Gillis for See-Saw Films, Daniel Battsek, Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4, Philippe Carcassonne for Ciné-@, and Haslam and Hugo Grumbar for Embankment.

Jackman is represented by WME and Lou Coulson Associates. Dern is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. Zeller is represented by CAA. Hampton is represented by CAA and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

Embankment, whose slate includes “The Father,” recently launched international sales on “Golda,” starring Helen Mirren, and is executive producing “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry,” starring Jim Broadbent, which they launched at Berlin’s European Film Market.

It is a New York-based story.

It will likely start filming when the pandemic situation eases even more towards summer?

Rehearsals for The Music Man will likely not happen till October?


Jo

[jo]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hugh-jackman-laura-dern-to-star-in-the-son-florian-zellers-follow-up-to-the-father?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social


I was jumping up and down at the news

Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern to Star in 'The Son,' Florian Zeller's Follow-Up to 'The Father'
6:30 AM PDT 4/14/2021 by Alex Ritman

Hugh Jackman Laura Dern
Dia Dipasupil/WireImage; Steve Granitz/WireImage



See-Saw Films is producing the drama, which like Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning 'The Father,' is adapted from one of Zeller's stage plays.

The Father may still be in the awards race — a two-time BAFTA winner last weekend and currently up for six Oscars, including best film, best actor for Anthony Hopkins and best supporting actress for Olivia Colman — but writer/director Florian Zeller has wasted no time on capitalizing on his directorial debut's momentum to get moving on the follow-up. And he's lined up another pair of top-level names to star.

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern are teaming up for The Son, with See-Saw Films joining the production. Oscar winners Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (Ammonite, Lion, The King’s Speech) produce with Joanna Laurie for See-Saw, alongside Christophe Spadone (The Father) and Zeller. Film4 is co-financing again, with Cross City Films and Embankment launching international sales and with Cross City Films and CAA Media Finance co-repping U.S. rights.

Like The Father, The Son is adapted by Zeller and Christopher Hampton from one of Zeller's own stage plays, part of a trilogy of family-centric dramas that also includes The Mother.


While The Father explored the devastating emotional impact of dementia, The Son will focus its lens on adolescent depression. The story follows Peter (Jackman) as his busy life with new partner Emma and their baby is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) turns up with their troubled and angry teenage son, Nicholas.

Peter strives to be a better father, searching to help his son with intimate and instinctive moments of family happiness — to solve, with understanding, what Nicholas is going through. But the weight of Nicholas’ condition sets the family on a dangerous course, and they must do everything they can to maintain the bonds that hold them together.

"The Son is a deeply human story which, I believe, connects us all; I hope audiences will be profoundly moved by this family’s journey," said Zeller. "Both Hugh and Laura naturally convey great warmth, compassion, and vulnerability… inviting our audience to embrace and feel every moment. The story is set in a vibrant and very much alive New York, an important character. The movie should make us call family and friends to tell them that they are wholly loved and not alone."



In almost identical trajectory to its predecessor, The Son originally debuted on stage in Paris (as Le Fils) in 2018 before moving to London's West End in 2019 to rave reviews.

"Having been lucky enough to see The Father at Sundance, we knew that Florian was a uniquely talented filmmaker," said See-Saw's Canning and Sherman. "The Son is a story that needs to be told - a story that rings an alarm. Through examining the human condition and our vulnerabilities, this film will strike a chord with audiences and leave an indelible mark on all who see it."

Added Embankment’s Tim Haslam: "For the audience, The Son is visceral, authentic, compelling, and cathartic; intimately close to decisions that many families have to make. The Son makes us respond, reconnect with those around us, with the gift of understanding and awareness."


Executive producers are Jackman, Simon Gillis for See-Saw Films, Daniel Battsek, Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4, Philippe Carcassonne for Ciné-@ and Haslam and Hugo Grumbar for Embankment.

Hugh Jackman is represented by WME and Lou Coulson Associates. Laura Dern is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. Florian Zeller is represented by CAA. Christopher Hampton is represented by CAA and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

Among a lengthy array of honors and accolades, The Father won the BAFTA awards for leading actor (for Hopkins) and best adapted screenplay (for Zeller and Hampton), the Satellite award for best adapted screenplay, and the British Independent Film Award for actor, screenplay and editing (for Yorgos Lamprinos).

It is going to be a strong drama, a genre where Hugh has impressed so much ( such as in Prisoners). He is really moving into a career path where his role calls for the finest acting skills, whether drama or dark comedy.


Jo

[jo]

Zeller is currently enjoying acclaim for his debut movie The Father, released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics in February. The film, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, has won two BAFTAs and is nominated for six Oscars : Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Production Design, Leading Actor and Supporting Actress.

So much praise for playwright and director Florian Zeller --

this was from an interview regarding the well-hailed film The Father ( which has landed Anthony Hopkins an Oscar nominaton this year).

www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany/florian-zeller-explores-family-memory-love-and-loss-in-his-oscar-nominated-drama-the-father-1.5964101

French novelist and playwright Florian Zeller has achieved remarkable success in his debut as a film director — the screen adaptation of his award-winning play The Father. With riveting performances by Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, it's an unsettling family drama about a man struggling with dementia. The film has been nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture, best actor for Hopkins, best supporting actress for Colman and best adapted screenplay.

Zeller has been described as "the most exciting playwright of our times" by the Times U.K. He won early acclaim in France for his fiction, publishing four novels while still in his 20s; but it's in the theatre that he's made his name internationally. His plays have been hits on Broadway and in London's West End, in English translations by British dramatist Christopher Hampton. The Father — part of a family trilogy that includes The Mother and The Son — won France's Moliere Award for Best Play.

Zeller spoke to Eleanor Wachtel from his home in Paris.



"In a way, The Father starts as if it was a thriller. I profoundly believe that the audience is intelligent — and this is something I know from experience.

"I come from the theatre, and I'm used to this relationship with the audience. And so, because I believe and know that the audience is intelligent, I don't want to make it too easy for them.

It was important for me to put the audience in a unique position — as if they were going through a labyrinth, questioning everything they are witnessing, as if they were in the main character's head.

"So I saw the film as a more complicated journey, in a way. It was important for me to put the audience in a unique position — as if they were going through a labyrinth, questioning everything they are witnessing, as if they were in the main character's head.

"It was a way for me to play with the feeling of disorientation. It was in order to make them experience what it could mean to lose everything — including your own bearings as a viewer."



Narrative and emotion
"When you start thinking of adapting a play into a film, the first ideas you have, or the first advice you get, is always to write new scenes outdoors to make it feel more cinematic.

"But from the very beginning, I knew that this was not what I wanted to do. I made the decision to stay in this apartment, so that that space could become like a mental space — and to use it as a labyrinth in a way.

"The film is not about making people feel lost; this is something that is quite easy to do, but it's not very exciting. It was more about giving enough information to make you believe that you are in the process of understanding what is going on, but something is still not working.

I wanted the audience to be in an active position, not just to sit and watch a story already told, but to be part of the narrative — to question everything, to use your brain, to try to make it meaningful somehow.
"So it's not about creating contradictions in the narrative: it's about giving enough information so that you are trying to understand. I wanted the audience to be in an active position, not just to sit and watch a story already told, but to be part of the narrative — to question everything, to use your brain, to try to make it meaningful somehow.

"It is like a puzzle: you can play with all the pieces to find the correct combination to make it meaningful. But you have to accept that your brain is not capable of understanding everything — and you have to let it go, just as the main character has to to let it go.

"When you let it go, you can understand the whole story on another level, which is a more emotional level. And even though the journey, or even the narrative, is sometimes complex or chaotic, in the end everyone understands exactly where we are, what we were talking about, what were the emotions and what was the journey."



Exploring family dynamics, on stage and screen
"The theatre is a place where you can say things that you are not allowed to say anywhere else. In the play The Mother, the mother says that she prefers her son. But it's in a scene where we do not know if it's reality or not; we are exploring her subconscious.

"And in the film The Father, the father says awful things to his daughter — but because he has dementia, we don't know if he's consciously aware of what he says.



I'm not trying to tell my own story when I write. I try not to be too aware. I try to keep the door open to something I do not know.

"So it was more about what you are allowed to say, or to feel. It's precisely to explore what is not said — and what you are not allowed to say.

"I'm not trying to tell my own story when I write. I try not to be too aware. I try to keep the door open to something I do not know. And then, when it's done, when it's written, when I look back, I can easily see connections, or understand where it comes from. But my impulse or my desire is not to tell my own stories.

"When I read a book, or when I see a play or a film, I do not care if it is the writer's personal story. What I do care about is if I believe that this is my story, as a viewer. To me, what is important is to leave room for the viewer or for anyone to say, 'This is my story.'

"This is what matters, in my opinion."

Hugh has chosen projects with relatively new directors and those directors are now driving their own path to success --

*Denis Villenueve (Prisoners)
*Cory Finley (Bad Education)
*Darren Aronofsky(The Fountain was only his 3rd movie)

This new film promises to be a challenging dramatic project for Zeller and Jackman! It is likely that Zeller's theatrical background was very attractive to Hugh, given his own dramatic theatre training!


Jo

[jo]

In case anyone is interested --

*the original play in French by Florian Zeller, translated into English by his collaborator Christopher Hampton, is available on Amazon.

*the play was adapted & performed in London -- you can find some reviews online which usually tell of the story highlights.

It is likely that the movie adaptation may change somewhat from the original story emphasis but the original play could give us an indication of the dramatic framework and character profiles from the original play.

For one, the story is now centered on New York ( in busier times)

The story is set in a vibrant and very much alive New York, an important character.

They could expand the story to include New York at the height of its busy-ness as the setting of a more elaborate story and characterizations? Just guessing, of course


Jo

[jo]

Not sure if this French site is only speculating or has some insider contact --

With the success of The Father, Florian Zeller is already preparing the sequel. The playwright is working on a new adaptation of one of his plays, A Son. This project, which he will shoot in English, will have like The Father a five-star cast.

I wonder if that would still be true -- the story has been located to New York ( in busier times ) and Zeller says that New York itself will be an important character? Maybe the original play also featured a 5-character drama... but a film adaptation should not appeal with the intimacy of a stage play for its entirety?




Jo

[jo]

Florian Zeller & Christopher Hamption won the Oscar for THE FATHER!

Let's hope they repeat the feat for THE SON!

[jo]

Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for BEST ACTOR for THE FATHER!

Btw, Frank Langella won the Tony for BEST ACTOR for the same role.

It looks like Hugh Jackman chose to right artistic team for his next movie!


Jo

[jo]

Google Translation --

The winners for Best Adapted Screenplay are Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, for 'The Father'. They are already writing the film that will give continuity to this story, entitled 'The Son' and which will feature Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern #Oscars

I am not sure if The Son is a continuation of the story in The Father. But it is part of the same trilogy by Froilan Zeller. I have written for the book THE SON ( the translation by Christopher Hampton for the book by Florian Zeller) and will likely know eventually if there is a direct connection.

Jo

[jo]

Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton just won the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay!

Also --

Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for THE FATHER.

Frank Langella won the Tony for the same role.


Good signs that Hugh's role in THE SON will be well-written... and hopefully equally acclaimed.

If they film it this summer, it will likely be released in 2022 ( unless Zeller is a fast-working director and will be able to enter it for awards consideration at yearend - very unlikely!). Besides, it might be better not to have their work back to back for Oscar recognition!

Augurs very well for Hugh Jackman's chances for Oscar honors! Hope he is inspired in the role!


Jo

[jo]

An article on the newly-minted Oscar winner (Adapted Screenplay) Florian Zeller for his work in THE FATHER ...

who will write the screenplay and direct THE SON --

AFP

Florian Zeller, French writer conquering global stage and screen





At 41, Florian Zeller has already had a glittering career, described as a "genius" by Le Figaro and "the most exciting new theatre writer of our time" by The Guardian.

His plays have been staged in more countries than any French writer of his generation, and now with an Oscar for his first film "The Father", he looks set for still greater success.

In Britain, he is likened to one of his heroes, Harold Pinter, and in France to the most fabled of his predecessors.

"He is a child of Moliere," said French actor Pierre Arditi, who appeared in two of Zeller's plays, "The Truth" and "The Lie".

"When we read his plays, we think that it's simple but it's much more complex, and that is what defines a great writer... He's a young surgeon of the human soul."

Already a household name in France thanks to a series of novels, the first published when he was just 22, Zeller fell in love with theatre after iconic French author Francoise Sagan recommended him to a director.




"The French stage was a marvellous destination and a dream," he told AFP in a recent interview. "But it was when my plays were staged in London and had a big success, with three at the same time... that's when they started being picked up in Asia, Latin America and the US."


They have now been performed in more than 40 countries, and won awards from Tokyo to New York.

But it is with the film version of "The Father", adapted from his own hit play, that his star has really risen.




On Sunday, he won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for the film, while Anthony Hopkins took home the best actor award for his performance as an elderly man suffering dementia.

- English at heart -

It perhaps made sense that Zeller, who considers Pinter a "major inspiration", made such a mark in England.

"There is something that is close to the British soul in my work, where the subtext is as important as the text, where the apparent simplicity of the language hides powerful hidden currents that can be quite violent," he told AFP.

He went further at the British BAFTA awards this month, where he also won best adapted screenplay, saying: "I'm French, as you can hear, but in my heart I'm English."




Christopher Hampton, Zeller's English translator and a renowned playwright in his own right, says it was nonetheless tough to get backing when they first tried to bring "The Father" to the British stage.

"It wasn't easy to get the producers to believe this was the kind of play people would want to see," Hampton told AFP.

They got a short run in a small Bath theatre but, despite strong reviews, still struggled to have it taken to London, getting slots only at smaller theatres before finally transferring to the West End.

"Even then, I think they took the theatre for only eight weeks... and what happened was that it was so sold out that they had to take another run," Hampton said. "It was a runaway success."

The play was inspired by Zeller's own grandmother, with whom he was very close, and who began suffering dementia when he was 15.

"I think he is a very important playwright," Hampton said. "His work connects directly with audiences in a very powerful way."

ram/er/gd

[jo]

Hugh Jackman seems to like working with new directors on the verge of becoming film auteurs ( meaning they have had some initial success but their careers & reputation at that point in time will still solidify later) --

*Darren Aronofsky - The Fountain
*Chris Nolan - The Prestige
*Tom Hooper - Les Miserables ( unfortunately after his Oscar win with The King's Speech and Les Miserables, his later projects were not well-received
*Denis Villeneuve - Prisoners ( this was his first Hollywood movie but he was already well-known in the Canadian film industry)
*Cory Finley ( Bad Education)]
*Lisa Joy ( Reminiscence) - known for her collaboration with husband Jonathan Nolan ( who co-wrote the script of The Prestige with brother Chris Nolan) in the Westworld TV series


*James Mangold - they had first worked together in Kate and Leopold ( when Hugh was new to Hollywood and did not have a hand in choosing his director...but they would later worked again together in The Wolverine & Logan. Mangold is now becoming recognized as an auteur.


Hugh is likely very excited to work with Florian Zeller!

Jo

[jo]

Google translation --

Can we start campaigning for Florian Zeller with The Son to give the Oscar to Hugh Jackman?

He wrote a play thinking of Anthony Hopkins, adapted it to the cinema and thus gave him his second Oscar. We are facing a genius of French cinema and contemporary theater. Chapeau!

Arrival of new artistic talent like Florian Zeller to Hollywood is very refreshing.

Of late the focus of many movies are blockbuster action/comicbook movies, tributes to inclusivity, young-adult stories, and even occasional musicals (mostly transported from Broadway & not originally created for the big screen such as The Greatest Showman & La La Land). Dramatic fare is often consigned to TV or streamers ( what happened to Bad Education, though, was more of competition between the big screen and the small screen).

It is notable though that the new Oscar winner is another human story. The consistent finder of great movies has been Searchlight ( used to be FOX Searchlight, an original idea by Tom Rothman ... but now with Disney) and Nomadland was their discovery.

Intense drama, hopefully, will be widely available again -- and supported by distributors. Maybe the only problem why they remain unseen because of limited distribution is the marketing budget? Hopefully, that can be addressed?\

People in France have been complaining that they have yet to see THE FATHER on their own screens!


Let's hope THE SON can be more widely distributed!

Jo

[jo]

Florian Zeller confirms our speculation that filming of THE SON is going to happen in summer!

www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210426-florian-zeller-looks-to-next-film-as-he-savors-oscar-win?fbclid=IwAR1afYz2Q6OSfKix5xpcNJfRRLqf1pWtcJ28r0iK05ANJOjaDLaRu0OoacY

Hollywood (United States) (AFP)

French writer Florian Zeller spoke of his "great joy" after winning the best adapted screenplay Oscar for "The Father" but is already focused on his next project, "The Son", a new take on one of his plays.

"We started the evening with the Oscar for best screenplay and we ended it with the Oscar for best actor for Anthony Hopkins," Zeller said in a telephone interview with AFP shortly after his victory.

He received his award in Paris, where the Oscars set up a venue for artists unable to travel to Los Angeles due to the pandemic.



"It makes it all the more meaningful for me that I don't separate the desire to make this film from the desire that I had to do it with him (Hopkins), I wrote it for him," the 41-year-old said.

"Being able to share this moment, this recognition and this joy with Anthony Hopkins makes it all the more meaningful for me," he said.

"The Father," which was Zeller's first time directing a feature film, follows an old man played by Hopkins slipping into a disturbing bout of dementia.

Adapting his play of the same name to the big screen allowed him to go even further with the story, he said.

"What I absolutely did not want to do is film a play, but do something that only cinema can do," with renowned playwright Christopher Hampton, who translated the play into English for Zeller and shared the Oscar win with him.

"The uniqueness of this piece was to put the spectator in a unique position, as if he was in the head of the main character. I wanted 'The Father' to be not just a story but an experience, the experience of what it might mean to lose all your bearings, including as a spectator," he said.

"I wanted this film to be able to extend that into an even more immersive experience, which the language of cinema allows. To really be in the brain of this character."




- Like father, like son? -

The acclaimed French writer has already settled on his next film project, an adaptation of another of his plays, "The Son", which belongs to the same trilogy as "The Father".

Filming is set to begin this summer in New York City with several top stars including Hugh Jackman and Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern, the director revealed.

"'The Son' is a story that is very important to me. I have been working on it for many months and I am very happy to be able to bring together the actors that I admire and that I love, to be able to tell it," he said.

"The Son" tells "the story of a father and mother who no longer live together," the author explained.

"They have a 17-year-old boy who is going through a tough time, struggling with school, depression, and these parents are trying to save their son during this mysterious period that is adolescence."



After Zeller's success at the Oscars, Hollywood studios will be scrambling to secure him for future projects. And he does not rule out "working on works that are not mine."

"I started by writing novels and then I discovered the theater and it became an immense passion which occupied me for 15 years," he said.

"And then suddenly, I made this film. What I mean by that is that I learned never to close the doors, but to leave them ajar so we can be surprised by life."

But in the immediate future, his mind is elsewhere.



"In fact today, I am so focused on 'The Son' that these proposals don't really have any relevance to me," he said.

"Once I have finished 'The Son', we'll see. But, for now, what really matters to me is reaching the end of this story that I carry."

© 2021 AFP

[jo]

In case anyone's interested in the kind of filmmaker Florian Zeller is ( he started as a novelist, then turned to theatre, and finally turned to cinema for The Father) - here is an interview with Gold Derby for that movie. He has a French accent and lives in Paris where he has been hailed as an excellent playwright.

www.goldderby.com/feature/florian-zeller-the-father-oscar-video-interview-transcript-1204143068/


Jo

[jo]

Is Tim Chalamet looking too old to portray the son in THE SON

I remember how excited he was to meet Hugh Jackman a while ago.


Jo

[njr]

He’s only 25. He can play 17.
ETA: My son is 34 and could still pass for 18!

[jo]

One of the two Oscar-winning screenwriters for The Father is Christopher Hampton ( actually, Sir Christopher, as he has been knighted). He and director Florian Zeller are also collaborating on the script for The Son. Zeller wrote the original stories in French and Hampton worked on the translations initially for the stage. Both works were stage plays before they became or about to become films. Apart from his Oscar for The Father, Christopher Hampton also won an Oscar for the screenplay of Dangerous Liaisons ( another original French work).

The name Christopher Hampton was ringing a bell with me-- but I just couldn't remember why or where or when.

Looking him up --

I found out that he co-wrote the book and the lyrics for the stage musical Sunset Boulevard! Aha, so that was why his name was familiar to me. I wonder if he visited Australia when the stage production of Sunset Boulevard was being launched? If so, then he and Hugh might have already worked together??

Btw, he won a TONY for the book and lyrics of Sunset Boulevard which he co-wrote with Don Black. There was a time when I was very familiar with the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber!


Jo

[jo]

Translated from French by GOOGLE

Confirmation of.#FlorianZeller in
@lvt_RTL
#RTLMatin : after #TheFather it turns this summer #TheSon with
@lauradern
and
@realhughjackman

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

Translated by Google --

After the 6 nominations that 'The Father' had for the Oscars, the director Florián Zeller will adapt the complete triology of his own three plays 😱

The Father, The Son and The Mother 🔴

(1/2) ⬇️

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Very Cinema #RestoreTheSnyderVerse
@muydemarvel
Soon we will know more about The Son, which will star Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern and will be the first of the two sequels to be released 😱

The plot will revolve around the depression of adolescence and the clash between Peter (father of the protagonist) and his ex-wife 📖

[jo]

Jun 28, 2021 7:00am PT
Vanessa Kirby Joins Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern in Florian Zeller’s ‘The Son’ (EXCLUSIVE)
By Elsa Keslassy, Matt Donnelly
Vanessa Kirby arrives at the Oscars
AP
Vanessa Kirby has joined the cast of “The Son,” Florian Zeller’s follow up to his Oscar-winning feature debut “The Father,” Variety has learned.

Kirby, who was Oscar-nominated for “Pieces of a Woman,” will star in the film opposite Laura Dern and Hugh Jackman. As with “The Father,” “The Son” was adapted by Zeller and Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons”), from Zeller’s critically acclaimed stage play. Zeller and Hampton just won the best adapted screenplay Oscar.

“The Son” focuses on Peter (Jackman) as his busy life with new partner Emma (Kirby) and their baby is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas. The young man is is troubled, distant and angry, playing truant from school for months. Peter strives to be a better father, searching to help his son with those intimate and instinctive moments of family happiness. But the weight of Nicholas’ condition sets the family on a dangerous course

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern to Star in ‘The Son,’ From ‘The Father’ Director Florian Zeller and Co-Writer Christopher Hampton


The film is being produced by Oscar winners Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (“The King’s Speech”), as well as Joanna Laurie of See-Saw Films and Christophe Spadone (“The Father”) alongside Zeller. Film4 are co-financing. Shooting is expected to start in the coming weeks.


“Vanessa Kirby is for me a very great actress: intense, inventive and powerful. I am especially happy to take her on this cinematic adventure,” said Zeller.

Laurie added that the project “holds a mirror up to our families and our emotions and we’re very excited to add Vanessa to the already exceedingly talented cast of Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern in bringing this story to life.”

In addition to her Oscar nod for “Pieces of a Woman,” Kirby won the Volpi Cup for best actress as the 2020 Venice Film Festival. She gained international acclaim for her portrayal of Princess Margaret in “The Crown,” winning a BAFTA Award for best supporting actress. Her film credits include “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” and the Fast universe spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw.” She is also an Ian Charleston Award winner for her roles in “Three Sisters” and “Uncle Vanya.” Kirby’s upcoming projects include “Suddenly” from writer-director Thomas Bidegain, in which she will star with Jake Gyllenhaal.

International sales on “The Son” are being handled by Cross City Films and Embankment, with Cross City Films and CAA Media Finance co-repping U.S. rights.

Kirby is represented by CAA and Hamilton Hodell and Gregory Slewett at Ziffren Brittenham, and managed by Linden Entertainment. Florian Zeller is represented by CAA.

Zeller is rolling off “The Father” which won two BAFTAs and a pair of Oscars for adapted screenplay and leading actor for Sir Anthony Hopkins. “The Father” also earned Oscar nominations for best picture, editing, production design and supporting actress.

She is likely going to portray the role of Hugh Jackman's new wife/partner.


Jo