Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in the US, Latin America and across southeast Asia and eastern Europe to The Miracle Club, a film which centres on three working-class women from Dublin who embark on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
The film is directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Ordinary Decent Criminal), and penned by Jimmy Smallhorne (2x4, Darklands), Timothy Prager (Silent Witness), and Josh Maurer (Papillion).
The Miracle Club was wrapped in Ardmore Studios and Dublin last year, and is now in post-production. The film stars Oscar-winner Kathy Bates (Misery), Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey), and Laura Linney (Ozark) as the top-line cast of the film, as well as Oscar nominee Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, The Usual Suspects) and Agnes O’Casey (Longbourn, Ridley Road).
The story is described as a "joyful and hilarious journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other’s friendship and their own personal miracles."
Plans to get the project funded and off the ground were a long time in the making with actors Bates and Smith said to have been previously attached to the project as far back as 2004 when the project was previously titled, Pushers Needed.
“What really enthralled me about the story is how three strong characters confront one another and then, by embracing truth, they understand that the miracle they have all been looking for is right in front of them: in the strength of their friendships and unshakeable togetherness,” director Thaddeus O’Sullivan told Screen Daily. “What we have achieved together is to make an emotional movie that is truly joyous, uplifting, and aspirational.”
“Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, and Laura Linney in peak form, having it out with each other in director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s moving and humorous journey to Lourdes, promises a rich, rewarding experience for audiences everywhere,” added Sony Pictures Classics.
The Miracle Club was produced by Chris Curling, Joshua Maurer, and Larry Bass. The UK’s Embankment Films is handling sales, and have arranged production financing with Curling’s UK outfit Zephyr Films through Irish investment company BCP and the UK’s Ingenious Media.
Pre-sales for a bundle of international territories that have been announced include UK (Lionsgate), Benelux (WW Entertainment), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (A Contracorriente), Australia (Transmission), Canada (Level), Greece (Spentzos), Portugal (Lusomundo), South Africa (Filmfinity), Israel (United), Middle East (Frontrow), Poland (Forum), Hungary (ADS), and airlines (Cinesky).
