Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2016: #56. Dominik Moll’s News From the Planet Mars

News From the Planet Mars

Director: Dominik Moll
Writers: Dominik Moll, Gilles Marchand

Cesar award winner Dominik Moll is back with his fifth film, News From the Planet Mars. Twice competing for the Palme d’Or (with his most notable work With a Friend Like Harry in 2005, and with the underrated Lemming in 2005), Moll tends to take five or six years between projects, with his adaptation of Matthew Gregory Lewis’ 1796 Gothic novel The Monk treated to an underwhelming response in 2011 despite starring Vincent Cassel. Reuniting with his regular scribe Gilles Marchand, Moll tries his hand at existential comedy with a tale about a stressed out dad and divorcé working as an executive of an IT company and headed towards a mid-life crisis, a situation insisted by the arrival of a new, insane co-worker.

Cast: Francois Damiens, Veerle Baetens, Lea Drucker, Vincent Macaigne, Michel Aumont

Production Co./Producers: Diaphana Films’ Michel Saint-Jean, France 3 Cinema, Artemis Productions

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic) Memento International (international).

Release Date: Considering Moll’s past two collaborations with Marchand snagged a slot in the Cannes competition, the possibility cannot be overlooked, but the director’s comedy could also show up at UCR or Directors’ Fortnight.