JFK Thriller ‘Assassination’ Hits Cannes Market With Al Pacino, Viggo Mortensen, John Travolta, Shia LaBeouf, Rebecca Pidgeon, Courtney Love
The Cannes market continues to heat up right as the festival is about to start, and one of the latest projects to hit Southern France is a retelling of the JFK assassination in 1963 from the mob’s point of view.
Per Deadline, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Oscar nominee David Mamet (Wag the Dog) will be directing the pic, which he co-wrote with Nicholas Celozzi. The starry cast so far includes Al Pacino, Viggo Mortensen, John Travolta, Shia LaBeouf, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Courtney Love. There Will Be Blood‘s Robert Elswitt was tapped as director of photography.
308 Enterprises is financing, and Arclight is launching the sale, with Corey Large (It Follows) and Nicholas Celozzi (The Class) producing and John Burnham, Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton and Pia Patatian, Jordan Nott, Bernie Gewissler and Amar Balaggan on board as executive producers.
The story reimagines JFK’s death as ordered by Chicago mob kingpin Sam Giancana as payback for Kennedy’s undermining of the mob after they played a key role in getting elected in 1960. Production is set to start in September in Vancouver. Arclight Films Chairman Gary Hamilton said in a statement:
“With the undeniable talent of David Mamet at the helm and our stellar cast led by Viggo Mortensen, Al Pacino, Shia LaBeouf and John Travolta, the stars have truly aligned. Assassination is a riveting and gripping thriller set in a pivotal period in American history, brilliantly crafted by Mamet – it’s an absolutely fantastic project.”
Other projects hitting the Cannes market include a Daisy Ridley-led action thriller taking place on London’s the Shard, an Emilia Jones-Toby Wallace-headlined romantic drama, an Idris Elba prison break action thriller, which he will direct and star in, the latest Ron Howard survival thriller, and many more. It’s definitely an embarrassment of riches for buyers.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
