‘All of a Sudden’ From ‘Drive My Car’ Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi Sells Internationally Ahead of Cannes Competition Launch (EXCLUSIVE)

Home Film Global May 7, 2026 7:43am PT ‘All of a Sudden’ From ‘Drive My Car’ Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi Sells Internationally Ahead of Cannes Competition Launch (EXCLUSIVE) By Elsa Keslassy Plus Icon Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent @elsakeslassy Latest ‘All of a Sudden’ From ‘Drive My Car’ Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi Sells Internationally Ahead of Cannes Competition Launch (EXCLUSIVE) 16 minutes ago Melissa Barrera to Lead Horror Feature ‘Inhabit’ From Adam Alleca, Sales Launching in Cannes With Logical Pictures (EXCLUSIVE) 2 hours ago From ‘Call My Agent!’ to Brad Pitt’s ‘F1’: How Pierre-Antoine Capton Built Mediawan Into Europe’s Answer to Hollywood 1 day ago See All Cinefrance, Bitters End “All of a Sudden,” the next film by “Drive My Car” director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, has already sold around the world in the run up to its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Cinéfrance International has closed a raft of international deals on the French-language drama starring Virginie Efira (“Benedatta”) and Tao Okamoto (“The Wolverine”). Japanese distributor Bitters End is handling Asian sales on the film. Following deals with Neon for North America, Diaphana Distribution for France, Plaion Pictures for Germany/Austria, September Film in Benelux, “All of a Sudden” has been picked up by Teodora Film and Tucker Film for Italy; Leopardo Filmes for Portugal; Caramel Films for Spain; Videorama – Weirdwave for Greece; TriArt Film for Sweden; Camera Film for Denmark; Arthaus for Norway; Future Film for Finland; and Bíó Paradís for Iceland. Popular on Variety Other sales were closed with Cinelibri for Bulgaria; Independenta Film for Romania; Aurora Films for Poland; Aerofilms for the Czech Republic and Slovakia; MCF Megacom for Ex-Yugoslavia; Kino Pavasaris for the Baltics; Edko for Hong Kong; PT Falcon for Indonesia; Green Narae for South Korea; Andrews’ Film for Taiwan; New Cinema for Israel; Gulf Film for the Middle East and North Africa; and Mars Productions for Turkey. Cinefrance International in negotiations for Switzerland, Latin America, and Australia/New Zealand. Filmed on location in Paris, “All of a Sudden” stars Efira as Marie-Lou Fontaine, a director of a nursing home in the Paris suburbs, who defies convention by adopting the “Humanitude” method despite her team’s resistance. Her encounter with Mari Morisaki (Okamoto), a terminally ill Japanese playwright, transforms her life. Together, they turn the facility into a symbol of resistance and humanity against the system’s limits. Efira learned Japanese for the part. In a previous interview with Variety, Hamaguchi said “Humanitude” stands for a “French method that was imported in Japan (…) and puts the human dimension at the heart of the treatment care, for the integrity of each human being.” The film is loosely inspired by a collection of real-life exchanged letters published in the book “When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn: Twenty Letters Between a Philosopher with Terminal Cancer and a Medical Anthropologist” by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono. “‘All of a Sudden’ is a stunning, open-hearted, deeply personal film that connects instantly,” said Renan Artukmaç at Cinefrance International. “With rich, nuanced relationships and beautifully controlled pacing, it draws you in completely. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto deliver extraordinary, powerful and emotionally resonant performances.” Cinefrance Studios is producing “All of a Sudden” with Office Shirous & Bitters End in Japan, Heimatfilm in Germany and Tarantula in Belgium. Diaphana will distribute in France and Bitters End in Japan. Hamaguchi broke through the international scene in a major way in 2022, after garnering four Oscar nominations for “Drive My Car,” including best director and adapted screenplay, as well as Japan’s first ever for best picture, and won for best international feature. Since then, he directed “Evil Does Not Exist” which premiered at Venice and won the Silver Lion and the Fipresci prize, and the experimental silent piece “Gift.” Read More About: Cannes Film Festival, Hamaguchi Ryusuke Jump to Comments More from Variety Netflix Orders Limited Series ‘The Corrections’ Starring Meryl Streep Coca-Cola Hopes Beverages Make Splash in ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Roasts Jeff and Lauren Bezos as Power Couple Bankrolls Met Gala Box Office: ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Struts to $32.5 Million on Opening Day Meryl Streep Says ‘We Tend to Marvel-ize the Movies Now’ and ‘It’s So Boring’ ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Director Tried ‘Sneaking’ Adrian Grenier in For a Cameo But it Was ‘Too Late in Our Production Schedule to Make it Happen’ Loading comments...