Paramount has closed their deal with Studio Canal for North American and myriad foreign territories on the Garth Davis directed, Florence Pugh starring fantasy drama The Midnight Library after a crazy auction with Focus Features and Sony. Last night when the news broke, not all of the foreign deals had closed. We hear that the other two studios, Focus and Sony, were also in the mid $30M range for the package which as Deadline’s Andreas Wiseman first told you, was the highest out of Cannes.
Said Paramount Pictures Co-Chairs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, “Like so many around the world, we are huge fans of Matt Haig’s novel. We’re honored to bring this beloved story to the big screen with StudioCanal and BluePrint and the immensely talented Garth Davis and Florence Pugh. We thank Lia Buman for bringing this exciting project to Paramount, and we hope this is the first of many collaborations with Anna Marsh and StudioCanal.”
Said StudioCanal CEO & Chief Content Officer CANAL+ Anna Marsh, “Under Garth Davis’ visionary direction, The Midnight Library is precisely the kind of film that can resonate across generations and around the world. His film is emotionally profound, life-affirming and inherently cinematic. From our earliest conversations Paramount demonstrated a deep understanding of the project’s creative ambition with an exceptional commitment to translating this remarkable book to the big screen domestically and beyond. With Florence Pugh set to bring Nora to life, we have an extraordinary creative team behind the film. We are so excited to partner with the entire Paramount team to bring this story to global audiences.”
This marks the first acquisition for Lia Buman’s team since joining the company in December 2025. Buman recently joined Paramount from Tango – the company she co-founded and formed into a highly respected independent film production company. Sejin Croninger led the negotiations for Paramount. Anne Cherel and Aska Yamaguchi led the negotiations on behalf of StudioCanal.
StudioCanal is producing the $70M feature with Blueprint Pictures. Cameras are expected to roll early next year.
In The Midnight Library, Nora Seed finds herself in a library between life and death with the chance to experience all the potential lives she could have lived. The novel, first published in 2020, has sold over 15 million copies. Laura Wade and Nick Payne are adapting. Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin will produce via Blueprint Pictures with Anita Overland and Oscar nominee Pugh. The author Matt Haig will executive produce with Marsh, Ron Halpern, and Dan MacRae executive producing for StudioCanal.
