Sony Pictures Classics is locking in on a deal with the Toronto Film Festival, with the studio looking to acquire a World War II drama entitled Lyrebird. Lyrebird is directed by Dan Friedkin and features an ensemble cast including Vicky Krieps, Guy Pearce, Roland Moller, and Claes Bang according to Deadline.
The deal is in the midst of being completed for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Asia. FilmNation has also cut a deal for the rest of the world’s theaters. This will be Sony Pictures Classics’ second festival deal following the studio securing U.S. rights to a Michael Winterbottom-directed satire entitled Greed, starring Steve Coogan and Isla Fisher.
Lyrebird tells the story of Joseph Piller (Bang), a soldier and member of the Dutch resistance assigned the task of investigating a studio missing valuable art in the wake of World War II. Piller fixates his attention on a flamboyant painter named Han van Meegeren (Guy Pearce), who allegedly auctioned off the Vermeer to Hermann Goring. Nazi law, however, forbids selling stolen art and is punishable by death. Piller and his assistant dive into the grueling evidence in order for Meegeren to receive a fair trial in Nazi court.
A release date for the film is currently unknown.