Music Box Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Jaco Van Dormael’s surrealist comedy The Brand New Testament. The film was Belgium’s official Oscar entry for last year’s Best Foreign-Language Film category. While it failed to receive an Oscar nod, the film was shortlisted by the Academy and received a Golden Globe nomination this past year. The film made its world premiere in the Directors Fortnight sidebar of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Van Dormael’s fanciful film suggests that God is a really a jerk who lives in Brussels who is constantly bickering with his tween daughter named Ea (played by Pili Groyne, Two Days, One Night). In an effort to rebuke her father, Ea concocts a plan that seeks to change the course of human history. Benoit Poelvoorde (Coco Before Chanel), Yolande Moreau (Amélie) and screen legend Catherine Deneuve (A Christmas Tale) co-star. Van Dormael, who previously directed the 2009 drama Mr. Nobody starring Oscar winner Jared Leto, co-wrote the screenplay with Thomas Gunzig.
“For American audiences unfamiliar with Jaco Van Dormael’s singular vision, they are in for a unique treat. Comedic, surreal, philosophical, deadly serious and visually witty, The Brand New Testament has been a hit in every territory it has opened so far and we’re eager to work towards that end in the U.S.,” stated Music Box Film’s managing director Ed Arentz.
No release date has been confirmed yet, but Variety reports that Music Box is courting a theatrical run sometime this fall.
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