CANNES — Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”) and Claes Bang (“The Bridge”) are set to topline Ruben Ostlund’s “The Square,” the Swedish helmer’s follow up to Un Certain Regard’s jury-prize winning “Force Majeure.”
Pic turns on an ambitious museum director (Bang) who is determined to make a huge impact on the international art world with a spectacular exhibition. Moss will star as a reporter.
“The Square” is set in a renowned museum where an artist is exhibiting an installation that is meant to promote altruism, providing people with a symbolic space where only good things can happen. The movie’s protagonist is the manager of the museum who hires a ruthless PR firm to build some buzz around the installation but things get out of hand when the museum’s PR team goes too far with their publicity plans, sparking a public uproar and exposing the hypocrisy of the media.
The idea for “The Square” came to the director while he was making his 2011 observation on bullying, “Play.” “‘The Square’ can be interpreted as an allegory of how society works today. It seems that we’re getting more and more individualistic and we tend to see other adults as a potential threat. Overall, we’re less inclined to feel responsible for one another,” said Ostlund.
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Unveiled at the Film i Vast press conference in Cannes, the project will start shooting in June in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Berlin.
Plattform Produktion is producing with Philippe Bober’s Société Parisienne de Production and The Coproduction Office, Essential Filmproduktion in Germany.
The Coproduction Office reps international sales.
