CANNES — Coming off its 10-year anniversary, Gotham production shingle Killer Films is in Cannes with a production and development slate that includes pics toplining Brendan Fraser, Zooey Deschanel, Edie Falco, Bette Midler, Catherine Keener, Ellen Page and Romain Duris of “The Beat That My Heart Skipped.”
First up on Killer’s plate is a docu by “Jarhead” helmer Sam Mendes following singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright’s upcoming re-creation of Judy Garland’s legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall show.
David Schisgall will produce with Randy Poster.
In development is “Simply Halston,” a biopic of American fashion designer Halston, who was Liza Minnelli’s designer through the 1970s, with Fraser in the lead and Deschanel as Minnelli.
Pic is being helmed by “I Shot Andy Warhol” scribe Daniel Minahan. James Lecesne co-penned the screenplay, and the pic is repped in Cannes by Luc Roeg’s Artists Independent Films label.
Also on Killer’s slate is “Electric Slide,” starring Duris as Eddie Dodson, the notorious Hollywood stickup man. Known as “the gentleman bank robber” in the ’70s and ’80s, the crook robbed 64 banks in 1984 alone.
Based on Gear Magazine article “Fast Eddie” by Timothy Ford, pic will be written and helmed by Tristan Patterson, and produced with the Di Bonaventura Pictures and Appian Way banners.
Killer has also reeled in “Camp” helmer Todd Graff’s next pic, “Cult Figure,” with Falco attached to play a charismatic cult leader who influences an adolescent girl.
Shingle has also partnered with L.A.-based independent label First Look Studios on “An American Crime,” which will star Keener and Page.
To be helmed by Tommy O’Haver (“Ella Enchanted”), pic follows the true story of a teen girl who was taken in as a boarder and became the subject of abuse in 1960s Indiana.
Also in Killer’s sights is “White and Rice,” a coming-of-age story about an Asian teen in an all-white suburban community. Pic is to be helmed by Shawn Ku (“Pretty Dead Girl”) and produced with Double Edge Entertainment.
Fortissimo will rep rights.
Killer has also added Midler to its drama “Then She Found Me,” which is heading into production with Helen Hunt at the helm.
Pic, starring Hunt as a schoolteacher hitting a midlife crisis, is repped by Odyssey Entertainment.
Killer’s upcoming credits include the Julianne Moore-starrer “Savage Grace,” produced by Spain’s Iker Monfort, which is repped by sales banner Celluloid Dreams. The pic also has backing from the Isle of Man.
Run by partners Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and Katie Roumel, Killer is funded by John Wells, an exec producer on each film. With Jocelyn Hayes-Simpson heading up Killer’s new Los Angeles outpost, Charles Pugliese has been tapped to head development in Gotham and also act as the creative liaison between the offices.
Vachon’s latest book, “A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond,” is being published by Simon and Schuster Sept. 19.
