Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to “The Outfit,” a crime film that will star Mark Rylance, Dylan O’Brien, Zoey Deutch and Johnny Flynn.
Graham Moore, who wrote the Oscar-nominated film “The Imitation Game,” will make his directorial debut on the drama based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Johnathan McClain (“Mad Men”). Production is expected to begin next month in London.
The film follows Leonard (Rylance), an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. But after a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.
Producing “The Outfit” are Scoop Wasserstein, Ben Browning and Amy Jackson. FilmNation Entertainment will finance the film and has sold rights to Focus Features to distribute the film worldwide, with CAA Media Finance co-representing the U.S. rights sale. FilmNation and Focus Features previously partnered on 2020’s “Promising Young Woman.”
Dick Pope (“Mr. Turner”) will serve as director of photography, Gemma Jackson (“Aladdin”) will serve as production designer and William Goldenberg (“Argo”) will serve as editor. Zac Posen and Sophie O’Neill will serve as costume designers.
“A truly great film starts with fantastic writing, and we’re thrilled to have Graham’s talent drive this film to its full potential as a highly entertaining crime drama,” FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner said in a statement. “We couldn’t think of a better home for this film than with the talented and like-minded team at Focus and can’t wait to gear up for yet another production during a time when our industry needs great films more than ever.”
“Like so many, we were blown away by Graham’s award-winning work in ‘The Imitation Game’ and are thrilled to take part in his directorial debut. His storytelling talents seem limitless, and the caliber of artists he’s sewn together both behind and in front of the camera for ‘The Outfit ‘will undoubtedly bring this thriller to life in an exciting way. We are looking forward to joining our friends at FilmNation in this endeavor,” Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski said in a statement.
“If you’d told me years ago, when Jonathan and I were first dreaming up this story, that I’d get to direct my first film with a cast as exquisitely talented as Mark, Zoey, Dylan and Johnny, I’d have said you were nuts. And honestly, if you’d said that back then, you might have been. This film is such a deep labor of love for me and our whole team, and I could not ask for better partners than our friends at FilmNation and Focus,” Moore said in a statement.
Moore is a novelist on the books “The Holdout,” “The Last Days of Night” and “The Sherlockian,” and he won an Oscar for 2014’s “The Imitation Game” starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Rylance was most recently seen in “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” O’Brien is best known for “The Maze Runner” series and recently starred in “Love & Monsters.” Deutch is known for “Set it Up,” “Zombieland: Double Tap” and “The Politician.” Flynn most recently starred in “Emma,” “The Dig” and “Stardust.”
FilmNation Entertainment and CAA Media Finance negotiated the deal with Focus Features on behalf of the filmmaking team. “The Outfit” will employ industry-standard COVID safety protocols.
Moore is represented by CAA and Felker Toczek. McClain is represented by Innovative Artists, Trademark Talent and Myman Greenspan. Wasserstein is represented by Sasha Levites of Frankfurt Kurnit. Rylance is represented by CAA and Peikoff Mahan. O’Brien is represented by WME, Principal Entertainment and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler, Feldman & Clark. Deutch is represented by CAA, Management 360 and attorneys Gretchen Rush and Huy Nguyen. Flynn is represented by CAA, United Agents and Management 360.
Deadline first reported the news.
For the record, a previous version of this story misspelled Johnathan McClain’s name. We regret the error.
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