Paramount, Focus, and Sony have entered a three-way race for the U.S. rights to The Midnight Library, the Florence Pugh fantasy drama that has emerged as the hottest acquisition target at the 2026 Cannes market. The approximately $70 million project — one of the largest Studiocanal has mounted in years — is expected to close in a territory-split arrangement similar to the deal the European studio struck on Paddington in Peru.
Pugh will star in and produce the film, with Garth Davis (Lion) directing from a screenplay by Olivier Award-winner Laura Wade (Rivals) and Olivier and Tony nominee Nick Payne (We Live in Time). Payne previously collaborated with Pugh on the A24 romance We Live in Time, and Davis is currently directing her in Netflix’s adaptation of Steinbeck’s East of Eden — making this their second feature together.
The novel, first published by Canongate Books in 2020, has sold 15 million copies worldwide and been translated into 56 languages. Matt Haig, who wrote the book, will executive produce alongside Blueprint’s Ben Knight and Diarmuid McKeown, and Studiocanal’s Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern, and Dan MacRae.
Pugh will play Nora Seed, a woman who finds herself in a library between life and death, where she can explore the alternate lives she might have led. The story functions as an allegorical examination of depression, regret, and suicide.
Davis described his enthusiasm for the reunion with Pugh in a statement: “Her warmth and talent are magical, and together I know we’ll do something special working with Matt’s iconic novel.” Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh called the film “a love letter to life” with “the immediacy and high stakes of time running out with unparalleled emotion.”
Filming is scheduled for 2027 across London, the Cotswolds, and other locations in Europe. Studiocanal will retain its own theatrical territories — the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa — while the three competing studios fight over what remains. Pre-production begins this autumn.
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Pugh’s producer credit signals a growing shift in her career beyond performance. She currently has Dune: Part Three, Avengers: Doomsday, and Netflix’s East of Eden in various stages of release or production — a workload that makes her attachment to a $70 million literary adaptation all the more striking.
