Production is underway in Montreal on The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, the first English-language feature from filmmaker Xavier Dolan.

Co-written by Letterkenny director, executive producer and writer Jacob Tierney, the feature is produced by Lyse Lafontaine of Lyla Films, and Nancy Grant and Dolan of Sons of Manual. Filming will take place in Prague, New York and the U.K., in addition to Montreal.

Starring Kit Harington, Jessica Chastain, Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon, the film tells the story of an American movie star, whose correspondence with an 11-year-old girl begins to destroy his career. The cast also includes Kathy Bates, Ben Schnetzer, Michael Gambon, Bella Thorne, Thandie Newton, Chris Zylka and Emily Hampshire.

Seville International is handling worldwide sales in all territories except France, where Sons of Manual, Lyla Films and Seville have jointly sold the rights to Mars Films. In the U.S., Seville is jointly handling distribution with CAA. In Canada, the film is being distributed eOne and Les Films Séville.

In June, John F. Donovan was one of 10 projects to receive an equity investment through the Harold Greenberg Fund (HGF). Earlier this year, Dolan also won the Grand Prix award at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for his feature Juste la Fin du Monde (“It’s Only the End of the World”).

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