Sony Pictures Classics Closes Sundance Deal For Bill Nighy Starrer ‘Living’

UPDATE: SPC has confirmed Deadline’s scoop on the Living deal. Find the release below our original break.

EXCLUSIVE: Living, one of the Sundance buzz titles since its January 21 premiere, has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for around $5 million for North American and some international territories, Deadline hears. This after a brisk auction involving the likes of Neon, Bleecker Street, and Focus Features.

The Oliver Hermanus-directed drama stars Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp and Tom Burke. Pic takes place in 1952 London, where veteran civil servant Williams has become a small cog in the bureaucracy of rebuilding England post WWII. As endless paperwork piles up on his desk, he learns he has a fatal illness. Coaxed by a vivacious colleague, he begins his quest to find some meaning in his life before it slips away.

Scripted by Kazuo Ishiguro, the film is based on the Akira Kurosawa film Ikiru.

CAA Media Finance and Rocket Science (handling international) brokered the deal. The film has awards season appeal, which is why so many prestige distributors stepped up.

Pic is produced by Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Film4, and Ingenious.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all rights in North America, Latin America, India, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Germany, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and airlines worldwide to Oliver Hermanus’ film LIVING, starring BAFTA® and Golden Globe® winner Bill Nighy. Written by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, LIVING is a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film IKIRU. The acquisition follows the film’s world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was met with strong reviews. It is currently screening out of competition in the Premieres section.

In addition to Nighy, the cast includes Aimee Lou Wood (SEX EDUCATION), Tony Award® winner Alex Sharp (THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7), and Tom Burke (THE SOUVENIR). The film is produced by BAFTA® winner and Academy Award® nominee Stephen Woolley (THE CRYING GAME) and BAFTA® winner Elizabeth Karlsen (CAROL) of Number 9 Films, who also produced Sony Pictures Classics’ upcoming drama MOTHERING SUNDAY. The film has been developed with support from Film4 and Ingenious, with financing from Film4, County Hall Arts, and Lipsync. Executive producers are Kurosawa Productions.

LIVING is the story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful – into one he can say has been lived to the full.

1953. A London shattered by WWII is still recovering. Williams (Bill Nighy), a veteran civil servant, is an impotent cog within the city’s bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild. Buried under paperwork at the office, lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a shattering medical diagnosis forces him to take stock – and to try and grasp fulfilment before it goes beyond reach.

The film features costume design by 15-time Academy Award® nominee and three-time winner Sandy Powell (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, CAROL), hair and makeup design by BAFTA® winner Nadia Stacey (THE FAVOURITE), cinematography by BIFA nominee Jamie Ramsay, and production design by BAFTA® TV Craft winner Helen Scott. All four recently worked on MOTHERING SUNDAY.

Sony Pictures Classics said, “From the dazzling screenplay by Ishiguro, to the visual storytelling by Oliver Hermanus, to the spectacular performances led by Bill Nighy, to the evocative score and the perfection of the movie‘s design and costumes, LIVING is that overwhelming, emotional movie audiences are hungering for in their return to theaters. We are thrilled to embark on this adventure with these artists and our producer friends Stephen Woolley, Liz Karlsen, Daniel Battsek, and Rocket Science.”

Woolley stated, “LIVING has been a work inspired by the passion of Kurosawa and built on by the equally passionate and sublimely talented Ishiguro, Bill Nighy and Oliver Hermanus. The team at Sony Pictures Classics have demonstrated for decades (with a track record of great movies that is unrivalled) that passion is the vital ingredient in not only making and creating vibrant movies but also releasing those films to audiences in North America and globally. Elizabeth and I as the producers of LIVING are honoured to be in their company again and we are excited to share this glorious film in cinemas where it rightly belongs to inspire audiences in 2022 to embrace Living.”

The deal was negotiated with CAA Media Finance and Rocket Science. The latter is handling international sales and previously worked with Sony Pictures Classics on FRENCH EXIT.