Harry Potter and Saltburn actors to star in film by Russian director

Actors Harry Melling (Harry Potter), Barry Keoghan (Saltburn; The Killing of a Sacred Deer), and Riley Keough (The House That Jack Built) are set to star in a film directed by Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov.

Source: Deadline, a film and entertainment news website

Details: It is not yet known which roles the actors will play, but the film is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2026. Butterfly Jam will mark Kantemir Balagov's English-language feature debut. The project was originally planned to be shot in Russia under the title Monica.

The story follows members of the Circassian community living in New Jersey. At its centre is a teenage boy whose parents run a traditional cuisine restaurant.

In his spare time, he trains to become a professional wrestler but is later forced to bear his father's guilt and confront hardships.

Balagov co-wrote the screenplay with Russian author Maria Stepnova. The director moved to the United States in 2022 after condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Stepnova, however, continues to live and work in Moscow.

Balagov has previously presented several films at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2020, his film Beanpole (Dilda) was selected as Russia's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Butterfly Jam will be produced by AR Content, a company founded by Alexander Rodnyansky. Rodnyansky was one of the founders of the Ukrainian-language TV channel 1+1, which is owned by the 1+1 Media Group, and the Russian media holding CTC.

In March 2022, Rodnyansky, then president of the Kinotavr International Film Festival, announced that the festival would be postponed indefinitely. Since then, its future remains uncertain, and the project has been put on hold.

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