With the start of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival now only two weeks away, sales at the Cannes Market this year begin to trickle out. And there’s already been some intriguing movies announced for the market already, like “Andorra,” “One For The Money,” and “The Invite.” Add another to the list: Deadline reports that FilmNation has an action thriller starring Dave Bautista for sale on the Croisette this year titled “Cooler.” “Hotel Artemis” director Drew Pearce is on board to direct.
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So what’s “Cooler” about? In the film, Bautista plays South Beach bouncer Ray Sagona, who must find a drug-filled safe stolen from the super club he works at before the Miami PD narcotics bureau comes to pick it up on Sunday night. If Sagona doesn’t find the safe in 36 hours, he risks losing the family he’s worked so hard to regain. Pearce writes the script for “Cooler” along with helming the film and produces through his Point Of Not Return banner.
Bautista also produces with Jonathan Meisner through Dogbone Entertainment. Other producers for “Cooler” include rappers Drake and Future The Prince through DreamCrew, and Drew Simon and Sam Speiser from Infrared. Infrared, a new production label through FilmNation, won the package for “Cooler” back in September; FilmNation handles the international sales for the film at Cannes, with CAA Media Finances co-tending the US sales with them.
Baustista has a stuffed 2023 with “Knock At The Cabin” already hitting theaters in February and “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” in theaters today. The actor also stars in Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming sequel, “Dune: Part Two,” in theaters November 3. “Cooler” marks the first upcoming project after those three films.
As for Pearce, he made his Hollywood bones as a writer before directing Bautista in “Hotel Artemis.” His feature writing credits include “Iron Man 3,” “Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation,” and “Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.” Pearce also wrote and directed Marvel‘s one-shot “All Hail The King” with Ben Kingsley as a follow-up to “Iron Man 3.” Pearce also writes Universal‘s upcoming actioner “The Fall Guy,” with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.
So how will the second team-up between Dave Bautista and Drew Pearce turn out in “Cooler”? The action flick sounds like something Bautista will thrive in, so mark this down as one of the more intriguing films to hit theaters (possibly) in 2024.
