EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Spacey has signed on to lead a World War 2 drama titled Melodies in the Forest. 

The project is produced by Ventitre SRL in co-production with Pink Flamingo Media Group. Principal photography on the project is set to begin in October across Italy and the Czech Republic.

Kevin Spacey will star as Petr Novotni, an 85-year-old world-renowned conductor whose buried wartime past violently resurfaces. The cast also includes John Savage (The Deer Hunter), Vincent Spano (Rumble Fish), Antonella Salvucci, Andrea Bruschi, Danny Kamensky, Riccardo Campione, Casper Kellndorfer, and Enzo Storico.

Blue Eyes Film and Distribution has acquired worldwide sales rights and will introduce the project to international buyers at the Cannes Market. 

The film is written and directed by Roberto Lippolis, whose previous work includes The Cat & the Moon. The official synopsis reads: When celebrated conductor Petr Novotni is abducted during a routine walk, he recognises his captor as Yosef — a Jewish composer he encountered in Terezín in 1942. As investigators close in, Novotni’s children discover a hidden memoir that rewrites everything they believed about their father, forcing a reckoning with guilt, complicity, and the cost of survival.

Worldwide sales were negotiated by Michael Cowan of Blue Eyes Film and Ivan Perciballi of Xlegion, who also serves as executive producer. Additional executive producers include Roberto Lippolis and Enzo Storico for Ventitre SRL, and Jayney Mackie for Pink Flamingo Media Group.

Michael Cowan of Blue Eyes Film and Distribution described the film as an “extraordinary story grounded in documented history,” with a “cast and creative team that can carry it to the widest possible audience.”

“We’re bringing Melodies in the Forest to Cannes as one of our most significant acquisitions to date”, Cowan said.