Neon has acquired the rights to “The Secret Agent,” a political thriller from writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring “Narcos” actor Wagner Moura that premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Set in Recife, Brazil in 1977, “The Secret Agent” stars Moura as Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks.
In his positive review for TheWrap, Steve Pond called the film a messy romp.”Its messiness is part of its charm and part of the point; a film that took itself more seriously than this one wouldn’t let a climactic gun battle turn into an almost cartoonish grand guignol splatter-fest,” he wrote.
The film was produced by Emilie Lesclaux. Co-producers include Nathanaël Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz, Fionnuala Jamison, Olivier Barbier, Leontine Petit, Erik Glijnis, Fred Burke and Sol Bondy. It is a Cinemasópio, MK Productions, Lemming Film and One Two Films presentation.
MK2 Films is representing the international sales rights to the film. The deal was negotiated by NEON’s Sarah Colvin and Jeff Deutchman with MK2 Films’ Fionnuala Jamison on behalf of the filmmakers.
Neon has made a name for itself as a major player at Cannes, having acquired and released the last five Palme d’Or-winning films, including Best Picture Oscar winners “Parasite” and “Anora.”
Coming into this year’s festival, the distributor already had four films premiering at Cannes: Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha,” the Raoul Peck documentary “Orwell: 2+2=5” and Michael Angelo Covino’s “Splitsville.”
