Award-winning studio Neon announced today it has acquired the North American rights to Chloe Okuno’s (“Watcher”) horror film “Brides” starring Maika Monroe. Monroe recently starred in Osgood Perkins’ horror film “Longlegs” for Neon, which is the highest grossing independent film of the year at $75 million domestically. Pre-production is now underway and it is set to begin shooting in March 2025. Neon will release the film theatrically.

The film will be produced by Anthony Bregman and Stefanie Azpiazu through Likely Story. Okuno will direct the film which is based on her original screenplay. Sally Bishop (Monroe) and her husband travel to a remote Italian villa where the villa’s owner, a mysterious count, takes a peculiar interest in Sally.

The deal for “Brides” was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman and Jason Wald on behalf of Neon. FilmNation Entertainment launched international sales at the American Film Market in Las Vegas last month. UTA Independent Film Group represented global and domestic rights.

The deal comes after Neon recently released “Anora,” Sean Baker’s highly acclaimed film starring Mikey Madison, which won the coveted Palme d’Or in Cannes and opened in select theaters October 18 to the highest per-screen average of 2024; and “Immaculate” starring Sydney Sweeney. Last month, Neon won studio of the year at the 2024 Clio Entertainment Awards, making it the first indie to win the award.

The studio has continued to expand its production capabilities, most recently on the highly anticipated Boots Riley feature “I Love Boosters” starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, LaKeith Stanfield, Demi Moore, Eiza González, Poppy Liu, Taylour Paige, and Will Poulter; “They Follow,” the long-awaited sequel to the modern horror classic “It Follows” from visionary writer/director David Robert Mitchell, also starring Maika Monroe; and Michael Covino’s “Splitsville” starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona.

Rounding out the year, Neon recently released Josh Oppenheimer’s “The End,” a golden-age musical starring Academy Award-winner Tilda Swintono on Dec. 6th and the studio’s last upcoming release for 2024 is the genre-bending, visionary documentary 2073 from Academy Award-winning and BAFTA-winning director Asif Kapadia which will be released in select U.S. theaters on December 27th, following its well-received world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and screenings at the BFI London Film Festival, Sitges, and others.

About NEON
In only seven years, Neon has garnered 32 Academy Award nominations (7 this year), 6 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $300M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” which made history winning four Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film also unanimously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and grossed over $54M at the domestic box office.

Recent and upcoming Neon releases include: “Anora” from Sean Baker, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and released in theaters on October 18 to the highest per-screen average of 2024; “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, which Neon picked up out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival and has been selected as the German entry for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards; and “2073” from Academy Award-winning and BAFTA-winning director Asif Kapadia which will be released in select U.S. theaters on December 27th.

As a burgeoning leader in the production space, Neon’s recent and upcoming in-house productions include: David Robert Mitchell’s “They Follow” starring Maika Monroe; Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool;” Bishal Dutta’s “It Lives Inside;” and Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End,” a golden-age musical starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

Neon launched its international sales outfit ahead of the Venice Film Festival in 2023, handling titles including: Michael Covino’s “Splitsville” starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona; Kogonada’s “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell; Jason Buxton’s “Sharp Corner” starring Ben Foster and Cobie Smulders, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival; and Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” which made its world premiere in Sundance, where Neon picked up the worldwide rights.

Neon has amassed a library of over 110 films, with noteworthy releases including: “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and earned Neon its fourth consecutive Palme d’Or win at its world premiere in Cannes; Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” which was the Japanese nomination for the 96th Academy Awards; and “Robot Dreams” from Pablo Berger, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. It also includes the Oscar-nominated documentaries “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” and “Fire of Love;” 2022’s highest grossing documentary, “Moonage Daydream;” and three-time Academy Award nominee Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness;” “Flee,” which made history becoming the first film to score an impressive trifecta of Oscar nominations; “The Worst Person in The World,” which was nominated for Original Screenplay and International Feature Film at the Academy Awards; Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, “Titane;” and Craig Gillespie’s “I, Tonya,” which garnered multiple Academy Award nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in domestic box office.

Following a successful collaboration on “I, Tonya” in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin’s and Micah Green’s strategic venture) partnered with Neon’s Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.