Miles Teller to Star in Fantastical Comedy Possum Song from Sing Sing Filmmaker Greg Kwedar; FilmNation Launches Sales at Cannes

Oscar-nominated Sing Sing director Greg Kwedar is set to helm Possum Song, a fantastical comedy led by Miles Teller, known for his roles in Top Gun: Maverick, Whiplash, and The Gorge.

The original screenplay was penned by Isaac Adamson. FilmNation Entertainment, the studio behind Conclave and Anora, will produce and launch pre-sales at the Cannes Market. They will co-produce alongside Ethos, the production banner founded by Kwedar and longtime collaborator Clint Bentley, also an Oscar nominee for Train Dreams. Teller and Lee Stobby are also producing. CAA Media Finance is co-representing domestic rights, and FilmNation will fully finance the project.

Possum Song centers on Eddie (Teller), a self-assured Nashville music star hiding a major secret: he stole the songs that made up his hit debut album. As he prepares for life with a new wife and baby, Eddie is under pressure to write a follow-up album or risk losing everything. When he’s at his lowest, he encounters a magical possum who turns out to be a musical genius, offering Eddie a Faustian deal that could change everything.

“This is a one-of-a-kind film. Greg’s vision, Isaac’s hilarious script and the magnetic performance of Miles Teller will create the kind of cinematic ride that audiences are craving — with showstopping music, visceral shocks, possums, humor and emotion,” said Ben Browning, FilmNation Entertainment’s President of Motion Pictures.

Teller recently headlined The Gorge, Apple’s biggest film debut to date, and has completed filming on Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic Michael as well as A24’s Eternity, in which he stars alongside Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner.

Kwedar and Bentley’s Sing Sing was distributed by A24 and earned three Oscar nominations this past season. Kwedar directed and co-wrote the film, while Bentley co-wrote and produced. The pair’s previous feature, Jockey, premiered in competition at Sundance 2021, where it won a Special Jury Prize and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. They most recently collaborated on Bentley’s Train Dreams, which premiered at Sundance and stars Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, William H. Macy, and Kerry Condon. Netflix acquired the project. Together, they recently launched their own production company, Ethos.

Adamson’s writing credits include Bubbles and Chippendales.

Possum Song joins a high-profile Cannes slate for FilmNation, which also includes Florian Zeller’s Bunker starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, Olivia Wilde’s The Invite with Seth Rogen, Cruz, and Edward Norton, Sebastián Lelio’s Cannes entry La Ola, and Tomas Alfredson’s Séance on a Wet Afternoon scripted by Jack Thorne and starring Rachel Weisz.

Read the whole article on Deadline.