A24 | The Souvenir - Part 2

[Darth Marcus]

Source: Deadline

A24 Lands NA Rights To ‘The Souvenir’ Sequel As First Film Is Poised For Sunday Sundance Premiere
by Mike Fleming Jr - January 23, 2019 3:19pm

EXCLUSIVE: After A24 last month acquired the Sundance-bound film The Souvenir, the distributor has closed a North American rights deal for director Joanna Hogg’s sequel, The Souvenir – Part 2. A24 unveils the first film with its world premiere Sunday here at Sundance, before the film plays in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival in February.

For A24, it’s another case of backing filmmakers as they commit to a sequel before the first one is seen by an audience. Production on The Souvenir – Part 2 will take place this summer, with Hogg writing and directing. Reprising their roles from the first film are Honor Swinton Byrne, Tilda Swinton, Ariane Labed, and Richard Ayoade. Robert Pattinson is in talks to join the sequel. He isn’t in the first film.

The film is an Element Pictures/JWH Films production.

Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Emma Norton are producing for Element Pictures, which just got a Best Picture nomination for The Favourite and also produced Room. Hogg and Luke Schiller (Archipelago) are producing for JWH Films. Martin Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff are returning as executive producers as is Rose Garnett for BBC Films and Lizzie Francke for the BFI.

BFI (using funds from the National Lottery), and BBC Films are developing Part 2, with BBC Films set to co-finance production and Protagonist Pictures expected to join again as sales agent.

The first film is set in a film industry milieu. Between script pitches and camera setups, a quiet film student (Swinton Byrne) hosts a film-school cohort party where she meets a mysterious man (Burke) who days later invites her to a grand hotel and asks to stay with her for a few days. It’s her first serious love affair and she ignores her friends and borrows large amounts of money from her parents, surrendering to the relationship and her new love’s needs. It’s based on Hogg’s actual experience.