Ruben Östlund’s ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’ Pre-Sells To Lionsgate, Wild Bunch, Lucky Red, Elástica, Sun, Road Pictures In China & More; First Look At Director On Set

One of the most anticipated crossover arthouse movies in the market, two time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund’s The Entertainment System Is Downhas scored strong pre-sales for Paris-based Coproduction Office, we can reveal.

The starry feature, led by Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, and Keanu Reeves, has been pre-sold to UK (Lionsgate Films), Germany & Austria (Alamode Film / Wild Bunch Germany), Italy (Lucky Red / Teodora Film), Australia and New Zealand (Sharmill Films), Canada (Elevation Pictures), Spain (Elástica / BTeam Pictures), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Bord Cadre films), Eastern Europe (Gutek Film / Aerofilms), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), Portugal (Alambique Filmes), Baltics (Filmstop), Latin America (Sun Distribution Group), Middle East (Falcon) and China (Road Pictures).

As we previously revealed, the film was snapped up in Cannes by A24 for U.S. rights. SF Studios is releasing in Nordic markets in a deal negotiated with the film’s Swedish producer Plattform Produktion.

The darkly satirical project is set on a long-haul flight between England and Australia where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored.

Filming began in late January 2024 and is set to run through the end of May, with principal photography primarily taking place on a studio set built around a real Boeing 747 acquired and fitted out for the production. Below is a first-look at Östlund on set.

Also Starring Are Nicholas Braun, Tobias Menzies, Connor Swindells, Daniel Webber, Wayne Blair, Dan Wyllie, Lindsay Duncan, Allan Corduner, Sofia Tjelta Sydness, Erin Ainsworth, Myles Kamwendo, ThibnoDo, ThibaDo, ThibaDo. Artist Benjamin Ingrosso.

Pic is produced by Plattform Produktion (Sweden) with Essential Films (Germany) and Parisienne de Production (France). Co-producers are BBC Film, Film i Väst, Sveriges Television, ARTE France Cinéma, ZDF/ARTE, SF Studios, Eye Eye Pictures (Norway), Paloma Productions (Denmark), and Good Chaos (UK).

Financiers are the Swedish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), the Norwegian Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, with the participation of Canal+, Disney+ and ARTE France and with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA. It is produced in association with Proton Cinema, Bord Cadre films, Sovereign Films, Cinema Inutile, Gold Rush Pictures.

Nadine Rothschild, head of sales at Coproduction Office, said: “We are proud to be working with such experienced, passionate distributors, all of them genuine film lovers who cannot wait to discover The Entertainment System is Down. Ruben’s artistic vision stands out and will once again provoke thoughts and discussions. Many of these distributors have been releasing Ruben’s films for more than a decade now. We have succeeded in hitting rarely seen prices for independent distributors, matching the sky-high ambitions of this project”.

Ruben Östlund on the set of The Entertainment System Is Down.