David Farnor | On 30, May 2022

Amazon is reportedly all set to buy Saltburn, the latest film from Emerald Fennell.

Writer-director Fennell won an Oscar for her debut feature Promising Young Woman, which was nominated for five Academy Awards in total. Ever since her next project has been the subject of some anticipation, with an impressive cast already attached: the project will star Jacob Elordi (Euphoria), Barry Keoghan (The Batman) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).

The plot details are being kept under wraps, but Deadline’s sources reports that it will be a “story of obsession” and that LuckyChap Entertainment’s Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie will be producing alongside Fennell.

Amazon is in final talks to pre-buy the worldwide rights to the project, which has been an in-demand property at the Cannes market. Amazon’s deal will reportedly be in partnership with MRC, and would mark something of a reunion between the online giant and Rosamund Pike, after she starred in Amazon Prime Video originals The Wheel of Time and I Care a Lot. Elordi is also no stranger to Amazon Prime Video, having co-starred in Deep Water, the erotic thriller snapped up by Amazon for UK and Ireland distribution.

The deal marks the second acquisition at Cannes for Amazon, after acquiring the US rights to Stone Matress, starring Julianne Moore and Sandra Oh. It’s also the third big deal from a major streamer, after Apple TV+ picked up Fingernails, starring Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Riz Ahmed (The Sound of Metal) and directed by Apples helmer Christos Nikou, and Netflix picked up Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and directed by David Yates.

Principal photography on Saltburn will begin this summer.

Add to Watchlist