Cornerstone Films has boarded sales on Josephine Decker’s “Shirley,” the psychological drama starring Elisabeth Moss as famed horror author Shirley Jackson, whose “The Haunting of Hill House” was recently turned into a Netflix series.
“Shirley” is based on the screenplay by Sarah Gubbins (“I Love Dick”), adapted from the novel by Susan Scarf Merrell. Michael Stuhlbarg (“The Shape of Water”) plays Jackson’s college professor husband Stanley Hyman.
Logan Lerman (“Indignation”) and Odessa Young (“Assassination Nation”) play a young couple who move in with Shirley and Stanley and find themselves fodder for a psychodrama that inspires Shirley’s next novel.
Cornerstone Films will screen footage from “Shirley” in Berlin as the presales effort gets underway at the EFM. Paradigm and UTA are overseeing North American sales.
U.K.-based Cornerstone is run by Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder. “Josephine Decker is one of the most exciting new voices in American cinema and she is, without a doubt, a filmmaker who demands our attention,” they said in a statement.
The film is financed by Los Angeles Media Fund and produced by Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman, Christine Vachon, Sue Naegle, Sarah Gubbins and David Hinojosa.
Cornerstone had a standout Sundance, launching five films, including “After the Wedding” and “Judy and Punch.” Soros and Horsman said they were delighted Cornerstone will rep “Shirley” internationally. “With their stellar track records, and the head of steam they have coming out of Sundance, we are extremely confident that Alison and Mark will bring on terrific distribution partners for this incredible film,” they said.