“Black Box,” Studiocanal’s flight-themed French thriller with Pierre Niney (“Yves Saint Laurent”) has been acquired by Distrib Films for U.S. distribution.
Directed by Yann Gozlan, the movie had its North American premiere on Nov. 5 at Colcoa, the French film and series festival in Los Angeles. The movie, which also stars Lou de Laage (“The Mad Women’s Ball”) reteams Niney with Gozlan following “A Perfect Man.”
Niney stars as a skilled black box analyst investigating the deadly crash of a brand new aircraft. As he uncovers disturbing details, he has to deal with the fact that his wife (de Laage) happens to work for the authorities. The film was produced by Paris-based outfit 2425 and Wy Productions. Studiocanal co-produced, distributed in France and is handling international sales. The deal with Distrib Films doesn’t include SVOD rights in the U.S.
Gozlan penned the script with Nicolas Bouvet-Levrard and Simon Moutairou, in collaboration with Jérémie Guez. The cast of well-known French actors also includes Lou de Laâge and Andre Dussollier.
“‘Black Box’ is a genre movie about the obsession of one man ready to lose it all rather than bury what he believes to be the truth,” said Distrib Films founder and president François Scippa Kohn.
Colcoa, which is headed by Francois Truffart and is backed by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, opened on Nov.1 with the screening of Emmanuel Carriere’s drama “Between Two Worlds” with Juliette Binoche. The festival has played several French highlights, including Joachim Lafosse’s “The Restless,” Nicolas Maury’s “Garçon Chiffon,” Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions,” and Samir Guesmi’s feature debut “Ibrahim.”
