Focus Acquires Worldwide Rights to Cannes Selection “Blue Bayou”

As expected, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival didn't take place on the beaches of France this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, many titles from the proposed slate will still get the "Official Selection" insignia, even though the competition, screenings and parties didn't actually happen in-person.

One of the titles for sale was Blue Bayou, the latest from acclaimed Korean-American filmmaker Justin Chon. The writer-director of films like Ms. Purple and Gook gets his first big-name collaborator, with Academy Award-winning actress Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) co-starring. Chon plays Antonio LeBlanc, a man who was adopted from Korea as a boy now facing deportation. The cast also includes Mark O'Brien (Ready or Not) and Emory Cohen (Brooklyn).

The film sadly couldn't be more timely, as many people who have grown up in the U.S. most of their lives face being returned to a country they barely knew, if at all. MACRO and eOne produced the film. Focus Features will distribute domestically, while Universal will handle the international side.

There's no telling when Blue Bayou will be released, and if it will actually make it into theaters, but I'll definitely seek it out regardless of where it ends up.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.