MGM has acquired the North American rights to director Sean Penn’s Flag Day, starring daughter Dylan Penn (Elvis & Nixon).
The film, which will have its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, marks Dylan Penn’s debut in a lead actress role. Sean Penn’s directorial debut, the MGM film The Indian Runner, had its world premiere in Cannes in 1991.
“We were immediately captivated by Sean’s film — the outstanding performances from the entire cast lead of course by Dylan and Sean, Jennifer’s incredible life story and the great care the entire filmmaking team took in bringing this true tale to the big screen after many years of willing it to be told. We are immensely proud to share this beautiful film with moviegoing audiences,” Michael De Luca, MGM’s Film Group chairman and Pamela Abdy, MGM’s Film Group president said in a statement.
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Josh Brolin, Norbert Leo Butz, Dale Dickey, Eddie Marsan, Bailey Noble and Katheryn Winnick round out the cast for Flag Day. The Tony-winning playwright Jez Butterworth behind Broadway’s The Ferryman penned the screenplay, which is based on Jennifer Vogel’s 2005 memoir Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life.
The book tells the story of a daughter that has to come to terms with her perceptions of her criminal father, a bank robber and career counterfeiter that evaded arrest for six months. Wonderful Films, Rahway Road, New Element Films and Clyde Is Hungry Films are behind the production, with William Horberg, Jon Kilik and Fernando Sulichin acting as producers.
“I’m particularly grateful that our film has been embraced by MGM. Mike DeLuca and his team are among the last true believers that, along with the advent of streaming, there remains a theatrical value to character driven films. I’ve known & admired Mike for many years, and there’s no one I’d rather throw the dice with,” Sean Penn said in his own statement.
Flag Day will be released theatrically in the U.S. via MGM’s distribution and marketing joint venture United Artists Releasing in 2021.
The deal was negotiated by CAA.
