Neon Acquires ‘Alpha,’ Next Film From Palme D’Or Winner Julia Ducournau

After serving as the U.S. distributor for Julia Ducournau‘s Palme d’Or-winning 2021 body horror Titane, Neon is getting back into business with the filmmaker as the North American distributor for her next genre-bending feature, Alpha.

Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson) and Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) are set to star, with production on the film to kick off next fall. Details as to the plot of the film are under wraps.

Producers are Jean des Forêts and Amelie Jacquis of Petit Film and Eric & Nicolas Altmayer of Mandarin & Compagnie, with Frakas Productions co-producing. Charades and FilmNation Entertainment are handling sales in the rest of the world during the Cannes Film Festival.

Picking up Ducournau’s last feature ahead of its launch at Cannes, Neon most recently acquired worldwide rights to Longlegs helmer Osgood Perkins’ next film Keeper, starring Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland, and Steven Soderbergh’s Presence. In Cannes, the company will also be premiering Sean Baker’s Anora, starring Mikey Madison, in Competition.

Neon’s upcoming slate for the year includes Pamela Adlon’s highly lauded directorial debut, Babes (May 17), which premiered at this year’s SXSW; Pablo Berger’s Academy Award-nominated animated feature Robot Dreams, out May 31; the serial killer pic Longlegs, starring Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe, which releases in theaters July 12; and Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo, starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, in theaters August 2.

The deal was negotiated by Neon’s President of Acquisitions & Production Jeff Deutchman with Charades’ Carole Baraton and FilmNation Entertainment’s CEO Glen Basner on behalf of the filmmakers.