Lionsgate Acquires Film Wet Starring Connor Storrie and Rebecca Ferguson
Lionsgate acquired North America and U.K. rights to Alma Har'el's Wet, starring Connor Storrie and Rebecca Ferguson. The plot is undisclosed.
The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.
Lionsgate has acquired North America and U.K. distribution rights to Wet, a film from writer-director Alma Har'el, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter reported Wednesday. The film is set to star Connor Storrie, Rebecca Ferguson, Odessa A'zion, Javier Bardem, Rosalía, and Lukas Haas, both outlets reported.
Deadline identified Storrie as the star of Heated Rivalry, Ferguson as the star of Dune and Silo, and A'zion as appearing in Marty Supreme. It called Bardem an Academy Award winner, described Rosalía as a Spanish Grammy winner, and noted Haas's work on Spider-Noir. The Hollywood Reporter listed the same projects for Storrie, Ferguson, A'zion, and Haas, and also cited Bardem's work in Biutiful and Dune and Rosalía's work on Euphoria.
Har'el, whose earlier films include Honey Boy and Lady in the Lake, co-wrote the screenplay with Christian Stangeby, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter reported. Deadline described the project as "an audacious new film." The Hollywood Reporter said the plot is being kept under wraps. Production is scheduled to begin in the Dominican Republic in 2027, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film will be produced by Fifth Season and 193, a Legendary Company, along with Har'el, Christopher Leggett, and Riva Marker for Linden Entertainment, both outlets reported. Fifth Season's Christopher Slager and Graham Taylor will executive produce with Patrick Wachsberger and Ashley Stern for 193. Scott O'Brien and MaryGrace Stephenson are overseeing the project for Lionsgate, and Jordan Backhus will oversee creative for Fifth Season.
Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said, "The script and package for Wet are undeniable. With Alma at the helm, we cannot wait to get in the water with this unbelievably talented group of people, both in front of and behind the camera." The statement appeared in both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.
Har'el said, "Lately, I've had to find humor in chaos and humanity in the most unpredictable situations. I'm grateful to Lionsgate for embracing a film that speaks to this wild moment in time. I'm incredibly excited to bring this remarkable group of actors together and make a film that refuses to behave." That statement was also reported by Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.
Deadline said Christopher Davis and Lauren Bixby negotiated the deal for the studio, while WME Independent, 193, and BALA negotiated for the filmmakers. The Hollywood Reporter reported the same negotiating parties. No release date was given in either report. The acquisition is a distribution agreement for a film that has not yet begun production. Dock Line recently reported another studio-side film deal: Gal Gadot Will Produce Film Adaptation of Don't Feed the Lion.
Opinion:
A studio buying rights is not the same thing as a finished movie. The plot of Wet has not been disclosed. Production is not scheduled to start until 2027. Until there is a film to see, there is no honest way to praise it or condemn it.
Hollywood will always announce packages, stars, and slogans. A film that refuses to behave is a line from a director, not a review and not a moral verdict. The right response is patience. Judge the work when it exists, and judge it by whether it tells the truth about human beings, not by the heat of a Wednesday press release.
None of that makes the deal itself imaginary. Lionsgate has bought the North America and U.K. rights, and a sizable cast is attached. Those are facts. They are also preliminary. Audiences do not owe a studio their attention in advance, and a title is not a substitute for a story.
