Paul Schraders Oh, Canada, Starring Richard Gere, Sells to Kino Lorber

Paul Schrader‘s “Oh, Canada,” a drama starring Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi, has sold North American rights to Kino Lorber.

The boutique New York-based distribution company is planning an awards season theatrical release this December, followed by a home video and digital release on major platforms. The exact date has yet to be determined. “Oh, Canada” had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival and will continue to make the rounds this fall at Toronto and New York film festivals.

“I’ve been tracking Kino Lorber’s films for years, and I’m happy to become part of the family,” Schrader said in a statement.

Schrader directed the film and adapted the screenplay from the 2021 novel “Foregone” by Russell Banks. (Schrader adapted the 1989 Banks novel “Affliction” into the 1997 film of the same name). Gere, reuniting with Schrader for the first time since 1980’s “American Gigolo,” plays a terminally ill writer and filmmaker who sits down for a final interview to reveal the unvarnished facts of his life. But he proves to be an unreliable narrator due to his failing memory. Elordi, who plays Gere’s character in flashbacks, co-stars in the film with Uma Thurman and Michael Imperioli.

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The film received mostly positive reviews out of Cannes, with The Daily Beast’s Esther Zuckerman writing that “Oh, Canada” can be “a clunky film at times—with some awkward performances and labored dialogue—but it’s also an often fascinating match of director and actor.” The New Yorker’s Justin Chang wrote that Schrader “bravely forsakes the narrative fastidiousness of his recent work and takes on grand themes of memory, mortality, and artistic self-reckoning, to formally ragged but sincerely moving effect.”

The deal for “Oh, Canada” was negotiated by Kino Lorber’s head of theatrical acquisitions and distribution Lisa Schwartz and David Gonzales and WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.

“’Oh, Canada’ is a stunning artistic achievement by the great Paul Schrader, a poignant, formally daring rumination on aging, memory, and mortality anchored by a commanding performance from Richard Gere,” Schwartz said in a statement. “Schrader and Gere are true icons of American cinema, and we couldn’t be more thrilled and honored to bring their reunion to audiences across North America.”

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Update: 2024-08-03

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