2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation

The main title theme song for “True Detective” now comes to mind when I think of the unfairly talented Cary Fukunaga. A scheduled autumn award season release is strategically more sound for the studio that lands the pic, but since the filmmaker broke out with Sin Nombre, perhaps there is one in a zillionth chance this could land. Shooting on Beasts of No Nation took place this summer in Ghana and we’d expect this to be sizeably larger budget item fit for a Premieres slot. The long in the works adaptation of Uzodinma Iweala’s bestselling novel starring Idris Elba (in the lead role of the Commander) is definitely a long shot, but not impossible. Non-professional child actors make up the cast, while on the tech side we find Production Designer Inbal Weinberg (St. Vincent) in the mix.

Gist: Starring Idris Elba with newbies Abraham Attah, Opeyemi Fagbohungbe and Richard Pepple, this follows the journey of a young boy, Agu, who, when civil war engulfs his West African country is forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters. Not only must Agu face the death of his father and disappearance of his mother and sister, but must also join a life of violence and brutality. Agu befriends a mute boy named Strika and together they face the crimes and hardships of war.

Production Co./Producers: Red Crown Productions’ Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Riva Marker (What Maisie Knew), Parliament Of Owls’ Cary Fukunaga, Primary Productions’ Amy Kaufman and Idris Elba.

Prediction: Premieres category is the only available slot.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. WME Global (domestic). IM Global (international)

Note: Changes made to the original article to reflect inaccurate information.

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