EXCLUSIVE: Richard Linklater’s love letter to the New Wave Nouvelle Vague has sold to more than 20 theatrical distributors worldwide for Goodfellas following its buzzy Cannes premiere, as one of four French majority productions in Competition this year.
They join Paris-based distributor ARP Sélection which will release the film in cinemas in France on October 8 on 500 screens, having produced the film under the banner of ARP Production with Linklater’s Austin-based Detour Film.
The French-language production about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960s New Wave classic Breathless has sold out in Europe for Paris-based sales company Goodfellas.
It has unveiled deals to Benelux (Cherry Pickers), the UK & Ireland (Altitude), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Germany, (Plaion), Spain (Elastica Films), Greece (Cinobo), Italy (Lucky Red /Bim), Portugal (Alambique), Scandinavia (TriArt Film), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Romania (Independenta), Baltics (Scanorama) and CIS (MJM Group).
In the rest of the world, it has been acquired for Latin America (Cine Canibal), Japan (Nikkatsu Corporation/AMG), Australia (Transmission Films), South Korea (AUD), and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures).
Canada, China and Asia are among territories currently under negotiation.
Goodfellas says all the distributors are planning theatrical releases for the film.
Nouvelle Vague, which is Linklater’s first French-language film, received the support of France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC), Ciné+OCS and Canal+.
ARP’s Michèle Halberstadt, who is a producer and co-writer on the film, and Goodfellas will submit Nouvelle Vague as a candidate to be France’s Best International Feature Film entry for the 2026 Oscars. The selection process takes place in the fall.
The international deals announcement follows news that Netflix has acquired U.S. rights for the film, where it will receive an awards-qualifying theatrical run and have support through the fall season.
Nouvelle Vague reconstructs Godard’s chaotic, improvised, hand-held shoot of Breathless on the streets of Paris over the summer of 1959.
Shot in black and white and with a 4:3 aspect ratio, it stars Guillaume Marbeck as Godard, Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo with other New Wave figures making appearances including François Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard), Claude Chabrol (Antoine Besson) and Raoul Coutard (Matthieu Penchinat).
The film enjoyed an 11-minute ovation in Cannes and strong reviews, with Deadline critic Pete Hammond writing of the film: “Linklater’s splendid love letter to the French New Wave and Godard will make you fall in love with movies all over again.”
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