Isabelle Huppert Thriller ‘The Sitting Duck’ Lures Buyers for The Bureau Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

The Bureau Sales has scored a raft of deals on “The Sitting Duck,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s thriller based on a true story starring Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”). The movie world premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section. 

Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney (Huppert), the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina.

Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.

The Bureau Sales, which is spearheaded by Clementine Hugot, has sold the film to the U.K. (Modern Films), Latin America (Cineplex), Japan (Only Hearts Co.), Spain (Wanda), Greece (Cinobo) and Hungary (ADS Service Ltd.). 

Penned by Salomé and Fadette Drouard, the film had already pre-sold to Italy (iWonder Pictures), Switerland (Filmcoopi), Benelux (September), Portugal (Lusomundo), Israel (Forum) and Bulgaria (Beta). The Bureau Sales is in discussions to close further territories, including the U.S., Scandinavia, Australia and Taiwan. 

Le Pacte will release “The Sitting Duck” in France on March 1, while Weltkino will distribute in Germany. The film was produced by Bertrand Faivre on behalf of Le Bureau and co-produced by Bettina Brokemper at Heimatfilm.

The film reteams Huppert and Salomé following “Mamma Weed,” a crime comedy for which Huppert learned to speak Arabic. 

Salomé said he discovered Michel-Aguirre’s book while wrapping “Mamma Weed” and immediately knew he wanted to adapt this book. “I could envision both the cinematic potential of the story, and how Isabelle could morph into the real-life Maurine even if they are very different,” Salomé told Variety. 

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