Ryan Gosling’s Arcana launches with ‘The Favourite’

Ryan Gosling and Ken Kao have announced the launch of their own film and television production company, Arcana.

The first project from Arcana is set to be Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, with principal photography having recently wrapped in the UK.

The Favourite, a “bawdy, acerbic tale of royal intrigue, passion, envy, and betrayal” set in 18th-century England, follows political machinations during the reign of Queen Anne, last monarch of the House of Stuarts.

Lanthimos’ latest feature The Killing of a Sacred Deer competed for the Palme d’Or at last month’s Cannes Film Festival. Despite missing out on the main prize, the director later snagged a Best Screenplay award.

Gosling has roped in his La La Land co-star and Academy Award-winning actress Emma Stone to lead the cast, rounded out by Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, Constantine, The Fountain), Olivia Colman (The Iron Lady, Locke, The Lobster), and Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, Warm Bodies, About a Boy).

Arcana have partnered with Film4, Fox Searchlight, Scarlet Films and Element Pictures to produce the flick. International sales for the film are being considered on a case-by-case basis.

Gosling and Kao previously collaborated on Shane Black’s buddy comedy The Nice Guys and Song to Song from Terrence Malick. The pair recently announced they had acquired the rights to Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel The Underwater Welder, with plans to develop alongside Anonymous Content.

Kao will continue to run his Waypoint Entertainment production label, as well as production company BLOOM with partner Alex Walton. Waypoint announced earlier this year it had picked up rights to Plutona, also from Lemire, along with Mark Millar’s American Jesus and Supercrooks. (Between you and us, we reckon he’s a bit of a comics fan.)

The Favourite is currently pegged for release some time in 2018. Stay tuned for more.