The Solution Entertainment Group will represent international rights to Frank Hudec’s The Sleeping Shepherd, who wrote and will direct the movie. The film stars Michael Pitt (Funny Games, HBO’s ‘Boardwalk Empire’), Imogen Poots (Knight of Cups, Green Room), Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, Amour) and Willem Dafoe (The Fault in Our Stars, “Spider-Man” films) it was announced today by The Solution Entertainment Group’s co-founders and partners, Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel. Mike S. Ryan (Junebug) will produce the film.
The Solution Entertainment Group will present the project to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market. CAA is handling North American rights.
“The cast of ‘The Sleeping Shepherd’ is an extremely talented group, perfect for bringing this story of the world’s most notorious art thief to audiences around the world,” said Wilson and Nestel. “Mike S. Ryan has a proven track record for producing great independent films and we are thrilled to include this film in our slate for this year’s Berlin market.”
“I’m excited to help Frank realize a visually unique take on the heist story in a way that allows these complex characters to take the viewer into unexpected dramatic places” said Mike S Ryan.
Alex (Pitt) is a failed painter who decided he would rather steal great art than paint it. As he criss-crosses Europe, he meets a bored rich girl, Karoline (Poots), who gets a sexual thrill from art theft. Their Bonnie and Clyde escapade is cut short when Alex’s arrogance leads to his capture. In an effort to save him, his co-dependent mother (Huppert) destroys two billion-dollars worth of irreplaceable masterpieces by chopping them up and tossing them into the nearby Rhine Canal. Alex and his mother are sent to jail, but in a strange twist of irony, Alex’s jailhouse paintings become collector’s items.
The Sleeping Shepherd is inspired by the true life story of the world’s most notorious art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser. Breitwieser admitted to stealing 239 works of art from 172 museums and exhibits across Europe beginning in 1995 until he was caught in 2001.
(Photo credit: WENN.com)
