James Gray’s ‘Paper Tiger’ Secures French Distribution With SND (EXCLUSIVE)

James Gray‘s anticipated next film “Paper Tiger” has been acquired by SND for French distribution. The independently produced film is a gritty crime thriller starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller.

Rumored to be Gray’s best film yet, “Paper Tiger” follows two brothers as they try to achieve the American dream, only to become “entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true.” The film’s synopsis reads: “As they try to navigate their way through an ever-more dangerous world of corruption and violence, they find themselves and their family brutally terrorized by the Russian ‘Mafiya.’ Their bond begins to fray, and betrayal — once utterly unthinkable — now becomes all too possible.”

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The casting reunites Johansson and Driver after 2019’s “Marriage Story,” for which they both earned Academy Award nominations.

It’s produced by Rodrigo Teixeira under his RT Features banner and Anthony Katagas for AK Productions alongside Raffaella Leone, Gary Farkas, Marco Perego, Carlo Salem and Andrea Bucko. Executive producers are Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, Riccardo Maddalosso and Emily Salveson.

“Paper Tiger” was expected to announced in Cannes’s lineup this morning. The festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux told Variety he hopes the film will be added later on and compared with Gray’s first film, “Little Odessa.”

Beloved in France, Gray has a strong bond with Cannes, having already presented five films there, including “Armageddon Time,” “The Immigrant,” “Two Lovers,” “We Own the Night” and “The Yards.” He also sat on Cannes’ jury in 2009, the year it was presided over by Isabelle Huppert. 

One of France’s biggest distributors, SND is the film arm of M6 Group, the country’s second largest commercial network. While it’s landed a solid French theatrical deal, “Paper Tiger” has yet to secure a U.S. deal which might part of the reason why it hasn’t been added to the Cannes lineup at this point.