Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal are in talks to star in Studiocanal’s “Rio,” sources tell Variety.
“A Bigger Splash” helmer Luca Guadagnino is directing from a script by Steven Knight.
The film follows a financial reporter (Gyllenhaal) who travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit a wealthy friend (Cumberbatch), only to get sucked into a plot to fake his friend’s death.
Studiocanal will finance and produce along with GCumberbatch and his Sunny March production company with Adam Ackland.
Studiocanal is planning to take the movie to the Cannes Film Festival to sell to international markets.
Cumberbatch’s most recent movie, “Doctor Strange,” in which he played Marvel’s titular superhero, was one of his highest-grossing to date, hauling $677.6 million worldwide. He will star as Thomas Edison in The Weinstein Company’s “The Current War” and is also on board to voice the Grinch in Illumination Entertainment’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Gyllenhaal, who recently wrapped his Broadway play “Sundays in the Park,” can next be seen in Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja,” which premieres at Cannes and will later be released by Netflix on June 28. This fall, Gyllenhaal stars in David Gordon Green’s “Stronger,” inspired by a true story and based on The New York Times bestseller of the same name. The film, to be released on Sept. 22, tells the deeply personal account of the challenging and heroic journey of Boston Marathon survivor Jeff Bauman (whom Gyllenhaal portrays).
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Gyllenhaal recently wrapped production on Paul Dano’s directorial debut, “Wildlife,” opposite Carey Mulligan. He begins production this summer on Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard’s first English-language feature, “The Sisters Brothers,” starring opposite Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly.
Cumberbatch is represented by UTA and Conway van Gelder Grant. Gyllenhaal is repped by WME.
