Apple Original Films has landed out of Cannes the worldwide rights to a package for “Fingernails,” a science-fiction film and romance that will star Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed, an individual with knowledge of the sale told TheWrap.
“Fingernails” is the English-language debut of the Greek director of “Apples,” Christos Nikou. Production is expected to begin later this year.
“Fingernails” will be set in a surreal future in which married couples can undergo a test to see if they are truly in love. Buckley plays Anna, a woman who undergoes the test and doesn’t believe her positive result is accurate, so she takes an assistant job at a “love institute” under an instructor named Trevor, played by Ahmed.
FilmNation will produce alongside Cate Blanchett through her Dirty Films banner, with Coco Francini and Andrew Upton also producing through Dirty Films. Nikou co-wrote “Fingernails” with Sam Steiner and “Apples” co-writer Stavros Raptis.
FilmNation Entertainment will be the studio on the film and also handled international sales at Cannes.
CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the deal with FilmNation.
Ahmed and Buckley were each nominated for Oscars this year, with Buckley getting a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” while Ahmed won his first Oscar for the live-action short film “The Long Goodbye.” Ahmed was also nominated last year for Best Actor for his performance in “Sound of Metal.”
Deadline first reported the news.
