SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO RICHARD LINKLATER’S ‘BLUE MOON’ STARRING ETHAN HAWKE, MARGARET QUALLEY, BOBBY CANNAVALE AND ANDREW SCOTT

NEW YORK (June 18, 2024) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that it has acquired all rights worldwide to BLUE MOON, directed by Academy Award^® nominee Richard Linklater (HIT MAN, BOYHOOD, BEFORE SUNSET) and written by Robert Kaplow (author of the novel Me and Orson Welles). The film will star Academy Award^® nominee Ethan Hawke in his 9th collaboration with Linklater, alongside Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott. Principal photography begins in Dublin, Ireland this summer with financing from Sony Pictures Classics and Renovo Media Group.

BLUE MOON profiles the final days of Lorenz Hart, part of the hit songwriting team Rodgers & Hart, and is set primarily in Sardi’s Restaurant on March 31, 1943, the opening night of Oklahoma!, Rodgers’ first collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II as Hart’s replacement.

This film continues the distributor’s relationship with Linklater that dates back to the release of his first film, SLACKER. This relationship continued with Linklater’s films SUBURBIA and BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Sony Pictures Classics has also long worked with Hawke, who has starred in SPC titles including BEFORE MIDNIGHT, MAGGIE’S PLAN, MAUDIE and most recently Pedro Almodóvar’s STRANGE WAY OF LIFE, as well as with Qualley, who starred in Maggie Betts’ 2017 film NOVITIATE and Cannavale, in BLUE JASMINE.

Linklater will produce the film alongside Mike Blizzard (HIT MAN, APOLLO 10 1⁄2: A SPACE AGE ADVENTURE), and John Sloss (BOYHOOD, GREEN BOOK). The film will be a Detour/Renovo production in association with Wild Atlantic Pictures, Under The Influence and Cinetic Media. Additional EPs include Wild Atlantic’s Macdara Kelleher, Donna Eperon and John Keville, Renovo Media Group’s David Kingland, Lisa Crnic and Aaron Wiederspahn, and Cinetic’s Steven Farneth.

Additional notable film creatives include Director of Photography Shane F. Kelly (HIT MAN, BOYHOOD), Production Designer Susie Cullen (ABIGAIL, I KILL GIANTS), Oscar^®-nominated Editor Sandra Adair (BOYHOOD, DAZED AND CONFUSED), and three-time Academy Award^® nominee, Costume Designer Consolata Boyle (THE QUEEN, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS).

Said Linklater, “Robert, Ethan, and I have been developing this story for over a decade and are excited and grateful that the time has come to bring this to life.”

Sony Pictures Classics said, "Almost a year ago, Rick, Ethan, and John reached out to us with Robert Kaplow's amazing script BLUE MOON. Helping them over the following months to bring it together has been incredibly exciting and now, on the verge of production, with this fantastic cast and crew in place and Rick at the helm, we are thrilled to finally announce it and bring the film to audiences everywhere in the world.”

Sony Pictures Classics will support the production and Sony will release the film worldwide.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992—which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.  Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 41 Academy Awards^® (37 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 187 Academy Award^® nominations (161 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for THE FATHER, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, WHIPLASH, AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. 

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services.

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