Sony Pictures Classics has pre-bought Freud’s Last Session, from director Matt Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity) and starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins as famed neurologist Sigmund Freud.
The film — also starring Matthew Goode (The Crown, The Offer) as The Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis — has been picked up by SPC, which reunites with Hopkins after The Father and has bought the rights for North America, the Middle East, India, Eastern Europe (excluding Russia) and worldwide airlines.
Written by Mark St. Germain (The God Committee) and based on his play of the same name, Freud’s Last Session is set on the eve of the Second World War and when, at the end of his life, Freud invites iconic author C.S. Lewis (Goode) for a debate over the existence of God. Innovatively, the film explores Freud’s unique relationship with his lesbian daughter Anna, and Lewis’ unconventional romance with his best friend’s mother, interweaving past, present and fantasy.
The film is produced by Alan Greisman (The Bucket List), Rick Nicita (Hacksaw Ridge), Meg Thomson (Siren) and Hannah Leader (Gosford Park, Daliland, Blinded by the Light). Production is set to begin in the U.K. in late January 2023. Westend Films is overseeing sales, with the company also having struck deals in Australia (Sharmill Films), Italy (Adler), Portugal (NOS), Israel (United King) and Greece (Spentzos). It negotiated the Sony Pictures Classics deal with CAA Media Finance.
