THE OFFING STARRING HELENA BONHAM CARTER CONTINUES TO SELL FOR BETA CINEMA

A few days into the Cannes Film Festival and Market, Beta Cinema announces further presales for The Offing, which Emmy Award-winner Jessica Hobbs (The Crown, The Regime) will direct. New deals include Spain (Beta Fiction), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Switzerland (Pathé Films), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) and Middle East (Front Row). CineSky Pictures has picked up world-wide airline rights. A multi-territory deal with Curzon, Cineart and Madman for UK/Ireland, Benelux, and Australia/New Zealand had been announced in April.

The Offing is based on the acclaimed, bestselling novel by Walter Scott Prize-winner Benjamin Myers (The Gallows Pole) and is set at the North-East English coast, shortly after the war and tells the story of the shy, 16-year-old Robert and the hard drinking, foul-mouthed, bohemian recluse Dulcie Piper, played by Helena Bonham Carter and their unlikely friendship. Their encounter is a riotous clash of experience, personality and perspective which will leave them both forever changed.

The Offing will be directed by Jessica Hobbs, who currently directs the HBO limited series The Regime (formerly The Palace) alongside Stephen Frears. Jessica has helmed three seasons of Netflix’s The Crown, which has won multiple awards including Golden Globes, BAFTAS and Emmy’s, and was also Executive Producer on season 5. Jessica won the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for War (season 4 finale) and was also nominated for an Emmy in 2020 for the finale of season 3 Cri De Coeur. After working together on The Crown, The Offing will bring Jessica back together with multi-award-winning actress Helena Bonham Carter. During her career of more than 30 years in film, television and theatre, Helena Bonham Carter has been nominated for two Academy Awards for her roles in The Wings of A Dove and The King’s Speech. She is well-known to a worldwide audience for her performances as Beatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter blockbuster movies. For The Offing, Helena Bonham Carter is also attached as Executive Producer.

The Offing is written by Amy Roberts (The Winter King, Call the Midwife) and produced by Charlotte Walls and Emily Barttelot at independent producer Catalyst Global Media (Finding Your Feet, Ghost Stories), who developed the film with support from Beta Cinema. The movie currently is in preproduction.

"We are proud to announce additional deals with these notable distributors today," says Tassilo Hallbauer, Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Beta Cinema, "and to continue pitching this outstanding project at the busy market in Cannes. It's wonderful to hear that our buyers are just as impressed by the nuanced screenplay as we are and enjoyed the many laugh-out-loud moments that seem to be tailor-made for Helena Bonham Carter. With the highly successful novel and Jessica Hobbs directing off the back of working with the calibre of actors such as Kate Winslet in The Regime, the prospects for theatrical releases around the world are strong. "

Helena Bonham Carter is represented by Conway van Gelder Grant. Jessica Hobbs is represented by Casarotto Ramsay and Associates and CAA. Beta Cinema’s office in Cannes is located right next to the Mondrian Hotel (formerly Grand Hotel), 45 Bd de la Croissette.