EXCLUSIVE: Following the success of the summer hit Longlegs, Neon and Maika Monroe have found their next thriller to team on as the studio has has acquired the North American rights to Watcher director Chloe Okuno’s Brides starring Monroe. The film marks the third collaboration for Neonand Monroe and the pic will be produced by Anthony Bregman and Stefanie Azpiazu through Likely Story. Pre-production is now underway, and it is set to begin shooting in March 2025. Neon will release the film theatrically.
Okuno will direct the film which is based on her original screenplay. The film follows, Sally Bishop (Monroe) and her husband, who travel to a remote Italian villa where the villa’s owner, a mysterious count, takes a peculiar interest in Sally.
The deal for Brides was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman and Jason Wald on behalf of NEON. FilmNation Entertainment launched international sales at the American Film Market in Las Vegas last month. UTA Independent Film Group represented global and domestic rights.
As a filmmaker, Okuno’s feature debut was the psychological thriller Watcher, starring Maika Monroe and Burn Gorman, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the US Dramatic Competition category and went on to play at SXSW, Melbourne International Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival London. Drawn to genre-based material that aims to excite and to unsettle, her other works include writing and directing the award-winning horror short film Slut and the “Storm Drain” segment of the anthology series V/H/S/94, as well as directing episodes from Showtime’s Let the Right One In and the James Wan-produced series Teacup.
Monroe recently starred in Osgood Perkins’ horror film Longlegs for Neon, which is the highest grossing independent film of the year at $75 million domestically.
The deal comes after Neon recently released Anora, Sean Baker’s highly acclaimed film starring Mikey Madison, which won the coveted Palme d’Or in Cannes and opened in select theaters October 18 to the highest per-screen average of 2024, and Immaculate starring Sydney Sweeney. Last month, Neon won studio of the year at the 2024 Clio Entertainment Awards, making it the first indie to win the award.
Monroe is repped by WME and Entertainment 360 and Okuno is repped by UTA.
