possessor

Among other titles, actress Andrea Riseborough will hit theaters later this year for Panos Cosmatos’ hugely celebrated Nicolas Cage thriller, Mandy following its Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight selection. In the meantime, she’ll be setting forth with upcoming Catch-22 actor Christopher Abbott in Arclight Films’ latest prospect, acclaimed Antiviral helmer Brandon Cronenberg’s new sci-fi, Possessor, which he also wrote.

The film will center on Riseborough in the role of Tasya Vos, an agent for a secretive organization who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of high-paying clients. As the plot reads on, something goes wrong on a routine job, and she soon finds herself trapped in the mind of an unwitting suspect (Abbott) whose appetite for violence turns out to rival her own.

…Hm. Just trying to picture how that is going to play out on screen is an adventure but the premise itself reads something crazy exciting and not to overlook.

Fraser Ash (Closet Monster, Enemy), Niv Fichman (The Red Violin, Hobo With A Shotgun), and Kevin Krikst (Closet Monster, Into the Forest) of Rhombus Media, and Andy Starke (Free Fire, Kill List) of Rook Films are producing the film with the participation of Telefilm Canada and the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Executive producing will be Arclight’s Gary Hamilton and Ryan Hamilton alongside Steven Squillante and David U. Lee of Leeding Media, Noah Segal and Adrian Love of Elevation Pictures, and Tony Roman.

“We are very delighted to be partnering with the producers of Possessor to represent this incredible new project from Brandon Cronenberg. Brandon has a superb talent and creative vision for storytelling with rich ideas and concepts,” commented Gary Hamilton, Chairman of Arclight Films. “We are eager to present this visceral, high-concept project to our buyers at the market. I have no doubt our buyers will be enthusiastic to get their hands on it.”

“Andrea and Chris are among the most exciting and versatile actors working today and are perfectly suited to bring Brandon’s characters to life,” says producer Niv Fichman. “We’re also thrilled to partner with Arclight and Leeding – they’re world class collaborators who are as passionate about Brandon’s unique vision as we are.”

More