Paramount is closing in on acquiring hot Cannes film market titles The Midnight Library, to be directed by Garth Davis and to star Florence Pugh, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount is paying more than $30 million for the rights to the film. StudioCanal, which is backing the feature project, will distribute the film in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with Paramount distributing in the rest of the world.
The adaptation of the book by Matt Haig is likely the biggest deal out of the Cannes film market. The story centers on Nora Seed, who finds herself in a magical library between life and death, filled with books that offer her to see the many outcomes of lives not lived. Pugh is slated to play Seed.
The Midnight Library won’t be Davis and Pugh’s first collaboration, as the two worked together on the upcoming limited Netflix series East of Eden. Davis has also helmed the Oscar-nominated Lion, the Elizabeth Moss-starring Top of the Lake and Foe (2023).
Pugh led Marvel’s Thunderbolts* last summer, and will also appear in Avengers: Doomsday later this year for the franchise. She’s also starred in the second Dune film, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and received her sole Academy Award nomination for her turn in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women.
Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin of Blueprint will produce alongside Pugh and Anita Overland.
Ben Knight and Diarmuid McKeown of Blueprint will executive produce, alongside Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern and Dan MacRae for StudioCanal.
Puck was first to report on Paramount’s deal.
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