The Royal Hotel will reunite Green and Garner who previously worked together on Green’s breakout hit The Assistant which premiered at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival and earned Garner an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
A social thriller inspired by true events, the film follows Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick) who are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called ‘The Royal Hotel’ in a remote Outback mining town. Bar Owner Billy (Weaving) and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but things turn nasty when their jokes and behaviour cross the line. Soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
See-Saw’s Emile Sherman and Iain Canning said: “We are very happy to be working with NEON again on the release of The Royal Hotel. NEON have an undeniable history of supporting both emerging and established filmmakers, and putting together innovative and provocative campaigns. We know that they are the right home to bring this film to US theatres.”
Liz Watts said “Kitty Green has the rare ability to create compelling, edge of your seat cinema that draws you in from the opening scene. We are thrilled to be partnering with Neon to bring The Royal Hotel to audiences.”
The Royal Hotel is a See-Saw Films production. Major production investment from Screen Australia in association with the South Australian Film Corporation. Financed with support from Screen NSW. Australian distribution by Transmission Films and international sales by HanWay and Cross City Films.
Screen Australia’s Head of Content Grainne Brunsdon said, “We’re delighted to support award-winning director Kitty Green’s first feature at home in Australia with this uniquely Australian psychological thriller. Together with the exceptional team at See Saw, talented co-writer Oscar Redding and an outstanding cast, Green is poised to make a big splash and we’re confident this film will enthral audiences here and around the world.”
The Royal Hotel is produced by Emile Sherman and Iain Canning of See-Saw Films, the Academy and BAFTA Award winning team behind The Power of the Dog, Lion and The King’s Speech, together with Animal Kingdom and The King producer Liz Watts, See-Saw Films’ Head of Film and Television (Aus), and Scarlett Pictures’ Kath Shelper. See-Saw Films’ COO Simon Gillis will executive produce. Green co-wrote the script with Oscar Redding (Van Diemen’s Land). The Royal Hotel will start shooting this summer in Australia.
The deal was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman and Mason Speta on behalf of NEON, Simon Gillis on behalf of Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, alongside UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.
Next month at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, NEON will unveil David Cronenberg’s Crimes of The Future starring Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, and Viggo Mortensen and Brett Morgen’s experiential, genre-defying film chronicling the career of David Bowie, Moonage Daydream. The company recently received 6 Oscar nominations for Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, which made history becoming the first film to score an impressive trifecta of Oscar nominations in the categories of Animated Feature, Documentary and International; Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World and Pablo Larraín’s Spencer.
ABOUT NEON
In just five years, NEON has garnered 18 Academy Award® nominations, 5 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $180M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which made history winning four Academy Awards®, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film, which also unanimously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, has grossed over $53M at the domestic box office and broke multiple records. NEON has amassed a library of over 80 films with noteworthy releases including: Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov’s award-winning and record-breaking Honeyland, which is the first non-fiction feature to land Academy Award® nominations for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film in the same year; Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11 which grossed $16M worldwide; Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane; and Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, which garnered multiple Academy Award® nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in domestic box office.
The studio has several projects in various stages of development and production including: The Painter and the Thief narrative remake; Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool starring Alexander Skarsgård; an untitled horror film from first-time feature director Bishal Dutta; Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, a golden-age musical starring Academy Award Winner Tilda Swinton; and the documentary, Seeking Mavis Beacon from director Jazmin Jones. Recent acquisitions and upcoming releases include; Jonas Carpignano’s sensation A Chiara; Beba, from New York Afro-Latina artist, Rebeca Huntt; Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman; and Ninja Thyberg’s daring debut feature Pleasure.
Additional recent releases include: Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria starring Tilda Swinton; the anthology feature The Year of the Everlasting Storm; Matthew Heineman’s documentary The First Wave; Nicolas Cage starrer, Pig; Jamila Wignot’s Ailey; Gunda directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Robert Machoian’s powerful thriller The Killing of Two Lovers; Billie Eilish’s documentary The World’s a Little Blurry; Ben Wheatley’s Horror Film In the Earth; Francis Lee’s romantic drama Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; Alex’s Gibney’s documentary Totally Under Control; Max Barbakow’s Palm Springs starring Andy Samberg; and Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Following a successful collaboration on I, Tonya in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin’s and Micah Green’s strategic venture) partnered with NEON’s Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.
ABOUT HANWAY FILMS
HanWay Films is a UK based financing, sales, distribution and marketing company with a strong influence on the independent film market. Established in 1998 by producer Jeremy Thomas, HanWay Films offers full service and creative solutions; specialising in quality and commercially driven films from diverse, visionary and unique filmmakers around the world. HanWay Films has long-term global producing partnerships and represents films from sister company Recorded Picture Company along with projects from third party producers as well as the rights to an extensive film catalogue of over 350 feature films.
HanWay’s slate includes Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO which will screen In Competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Kitty Green’s THE ROYAL HOTEL, Justin Kurzel’s MORNING; Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s HOT MILK; rising director Leo Leigh’s SWEET SUE; Dania Pasquini and Max Giwa’s adrenaline fuelled BREAKING POINT; MCCARTHY directed by Václav Marhoul; EVEREST directed by Doug Liman; Paul Schrader’s MASTER GARDENER; Robert Connolly’s BLUEBACK; Alice Lowe’s TIMESTALKER; and Ruth Paxton’s directorial debut A BANQUET. The company also represents writer and director Rupert Everett’s LOST AND FOUND IN PARIS; Amma Asante’s Cold War thriller THE BILLION DOLLAR SPY; Phillip Noyce’s PEGGY JO; Kim Mordaunt’s WILDLANDS and Jasmine McGlade’s FENCER.
For more information, please visit www.hanwayfilms.com
ABOUT SEE-SAW FILMS
See-Saw Films is a world leading, Academy Award, BAFTA and Emmy winning television and film production house, founded in 2008 by producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman. See-Saw is made up of an industry-leading team across offices in London and Sydney.
See-Saw’s ‘The Power Of The Dog’ written and directed by Jane Campion, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, won the Best Director Academy Award® (and was nominated for a further 11 awards), and won Best Director and Best Film BAFTAs (and was nominated for a further 6 awards). See-Saw produced six-time Academy Award® nominated and two-time BAFTA winning ‘Lion’, starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, and in 2011 won the Academy Award® for Best Motion Picture for ‘The King’s Speech’ which swept up an additional three awards from twelve nominations, as well as picking up seven BAFTAs from fourteen nominations. Recent projects include ‘Ammonite’ written and directed by Francis Lee, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; and ‘Widows’ directed by Steve McQueen and starring Viola Davis. Upcoming films include ‘Operation Mincemeat’ directed by John Madden, starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald; ‘The Stranger’, written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris; ‘The Son’, directed by Florian Zeller and written by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins; and ‘Foe’ written by Iain Reid and Garth Davis, directed by Garth Davis and starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre.
