Sony Pictures Classics has just acquired worldwide rights (excluding France) to Florian Zeller’s “Bunker,” which is reportedly set for a Venice Film Festival premiere in September.
“Bunker” stars Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Paul Dano, Stephen Graham, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Zeller crafted this film, which is 80% in Spanish language, specifically with Cruz and Bardem in mind—who have themselves been married for nearly 17 years. Speaking about the project, Zeller says he was inspired by the couple’s real-life marriage and exceptional talent, aiming to explore the complexities of a relationship while blending emotional authenticity with a “blurring of reality and fiction.”
“Bunker” centers on an architect who takes on a controversial assignment to design a survival bunker for a tech mogul. As the project unfolds, his wife begins to reassess their 17-year marriage. The film is positioned as a “tense exploration of the personal and ethical strains faced by a couple in an increasingly unstable world, highlighting the inner turmoil and complex decisions of contemporary life.”
Zeller’s feature debut, “The Father,” was an acclaimed and Oscar-winning film (98% on RT). Many believe he struck out with his sophomore effort, 2022’s critically maligned “The Son,” starring Hugh Jackman and Vanessa Kirby (29% on RT).
Zeller is now out for blood; he wants to prove the naysayers wrong, and he has Oscar-winning actors and real-life couple Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) and Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) to star in this third film.
An Oscar campaign is being prepared for “Bunker,” with a year-end qualifying run planned ahead of its early 2027 release.
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