Benedict Cumberbatch Sells Minority Stake in Production Company SunnyMarch to Sebastien Raybaud’s Anton
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“Sherlock” and “Doctor Strange” star Benedict Cumberbatch has sold a minority stake in his SunnyMarch production company to production and financing house Anton, founded by Sébastien Raybaud.
SunnyMarch, the production firm Cumberbatch set up alongside his friend and producer Adam Ackland in 2013, is behind features such as “The Courier,” starring Cumberbatch and Rachel Brosnahan, and “The Mauritanian,” in which Cumberbatch played opposite Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley.
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The company’s latest film, Amazon’s “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” which stars Claire Foy, Taika Waititi, Sophia Di Martino, Olivia Colman, Andrea Riseborough and Toby Jones, alongside Cumberbatch as Louis Wain, recently premiered at Toronto Film Festival.
With backing from Anton, whose films include “Greenland” and “The Nighthouse,” SunnyMarch aims to grow and expand, as well as partner with the London-based financier and producer on a development slate of high-end features, which Anton will finance, co-produce and sell. (The company is named after Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.)
The deal with SunnyMarch is the latest in a series of investments in top U.K. production companies for Anton, which already has development deals with WestEnd Films, Clerkenwell Films and Warp Films.
As well as features, Anton has a co-producing high-end drama fund with the BBC, which has resulted in “The Pursuit of Love” with Lily James and Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials,” starring Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Anton CEO Raybaud negotiated the SunnyMarch deal alongside head of business affairs Katie Geraghty. On SunnyMarch’s side, Cumberbatch, Ackland and head of film Leah Clarke negotiated.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Anton as we look to this next phase of growth for SunnyMarch,” Ackland said. “Together we plan to bring audiences ambitious, cinematic and original work from an eclectic range of filmmakers.”
“SunnyMarch’s outstanding creative instincts and ability to identify first-class material is central to its successful track-record, and we look forward to supporting the team to further expand its development of exciting original productions,” Raybaud said.
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