EXCLUSIVE-Co-production Office has confirmed pre-sales to Curzon/Artificial Eye, Scanbox, Bac Films among key buyers.

Following earlier pick-ups by Alamode for Germany and Magnolia Pictures for the US, a flurry of other pre-sales has been concluded on the Cannes competition title The Square directed by Ruben Östlund.  The Swedish film is handled internationally by Philippe Bober, long-time sales rep and production partner to Östlund and his producer Erik Hemmendorff (Plattform Produktion).

New deals comprise Curzon/Artificial Eye for the UK, Bac Films for France and Benelux, Scanbox for the Nordics (with a sub-licencing to Arthaus for Norway and Finnkino for Finland), Film Europe for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Feelgood for Greece, Cirko for Hungary, Bir Film for Turkey, Demiurg for Ex-Yougoslavia, Must Käsi for the Baltics, with further deals in negotiation.

Philippe Bober who first started representing Östlund on his film Involuntary (Un Certain Regard selection 2008) explains how the director has gradually turned into one of Sweden’s hottest ‘brand names’ on the international market.

“People started to acknowledge that Ruben was an auteur to watch out for with the artistically ambitious film Play [2011 Directors’ Fortnight] that sold to more territories than his more joyous film Involuntary [23 sales and 20 respectively]. However, his major commercial breakthrough was with Force Majeure [Golden Globe nominated and Un Certain Regard Jury Prize 2014], sold to an even larger number of territories [70]. The film sold almost one million tickets outside Sweden which is an extremely high figure that very few Nordic or even European auteur films can reach.”

“The Square in my opinion, has the best script that Ruben has written so far", adds Bober. " It is richer in its narrative and maybe also in its depth. Based on the script written by an auteur with a strong artistic history, distributors probably felt it was a safe bet to follow Ruben. The Square was therefore pre-bought mostly by the same distributors who had acquired Force Majeure. With very few pre-sales closed before the film was finished and submitted to Cannes, The Square has already a higher gross from international sales than Force Majeure.”

Scanbox’s managing director Thorir Sigurjonsson told nordicfilmandtvnews.com: “We had been tracking The Square for about a year, read the script, loved it, saw some footage and acquired it. We’re planning to release it in the fall but might book an earlier date, depending on the Cannes’ reactions.” TriArt Distribution will release it in Sweden on August 25, 2017.

Bac Films' Chairman David Grumbach who had bought Force Majeure said: “Ruben has a rare capacity to move us in a surprising way. His films cleverly question our inner thoughts and it was simply natural for Bac Films to continue to curate his work.”

Grumbach continues: “Force Majeure was a great success at the French & Benelux Box office so the release of The Square should be easier now that Ruben is an established and renowned director. On top of that, The Square is deeper and stronger than Force Majeure, with an international cast so we expect a larger audience. We’re therefore planning a wider release (with a bigger P&A and print run) late October during the autumn holidays.”

Östlund, cast members Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, Terry Notary and Christopher Læssø will walk up the red carpet of the Théâtre Lumiere on Saturday evening for the official screening of The Square.

The film was supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.