I believe Claire Denis' "High Life" is now in post-production, which bodes well for its rumored Cannes premiere next month. The film stars Robert Pattinson, fresh off his "Good Time" triumph, Juliette Binoche, Mia Goth and musician-actor Andre Benjamin (OutKast).
Denis is 71, and has been working on this story for "years" according to THR, which has "a crew of convicts sent on a no-return mission to explore a black hole."
Claire Denis is an art-house critical darling. I highly recommend “35 Shots of Rum,” “White Material” and “Beau Travail” if you’re a newbie. She actually started off as an assistant director on many films - including Wim Wenders’ legendary “Wings of Desire” and “Paris, Texas,” and then emerged as a perennial arthouse favorite with her films almost always assured to premiere at Cannes.
In short, Claire Denis is badass.
Denis has stated that "High Life" "is less a science-fiction film than a drama, a film set outside the solar system. The film is about this crew, who are prisoners and are offered the chance to take part in this trip into space, knowing that there is no return."
THR has said that the film is actually about “a father and daughter [who] struggle to survive in deep space.” There’s also the fact that Denis has never been in Cannes competition before, how crazy is that? I’m not sure if this will be done in time for Cannes, but, suffice to say, put it high atop your must-see list for 2018.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.