Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl Join Ruben Östlund Cannes Package ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’

Aaron Couch
·1 min read
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Ruben Östlund is checking in two new actors for his next feature. Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl are the latest to join the Swedish filmmaker’s The Entertainment System Is Down.

The feature takes place on a long flight in which the onboard entertainment system fails, leaving the passengers to deal with their own boredom — to darkly comedic results. Östlund is shopping the package at Cannes, with Keanu Reeves already attached to star. The production has purchased a retired Boeing 747 for the shoot.

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The filmmaker has stated he aspires for Entertainment System to cause the biggest walkout in Cannes history when it inevitably plays at the fest. Östlund famously included a lengthy vomiting scene in Triangle of Sadness, the 2022 Palm d’Or winner that skewered 1 percent culture amid the backdrop of yachting for the ultra wealthy. While that scene tested audiences’ ability to handle a gross-out scenario, he has said that Entertainment System will challenge audiences’ ability to sit with their own thoughts with a scene that will show a child wait five minutes (in real time) until an iPad becomes available to play with. (It’s unclear if this scene will indeed make it into the film.)

Dunst is coming off of her leading role in Alex Garland’s Civil War, the film that pushed A24 into blockbuster movie territory. Brühl has filmed a role in Ron Howard’s upcoming feature Eden. Entertainment System will mark Östlund’s third English-language film after Triangle and fellow Palm d’Or winner The Square.

Erik Hemmendorff will produce via Plattform Produktion. Philippe Bober of Coproduction Office will also produce, with the company handling worldwide sales.

Deadline first reported the news.

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