Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal are in talks to star in Studiocanal’s “Rio,” sources tell Variety. Luca Guadagnino is directing from a script by Steven Knight.

The film follows a financial reporter (Gyllenhaal) who travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit a wealthy friend (Cumberbatch), only to get sucked into a plot to fake his friend’s death.

Studiocanal will finance and produce along with Gyllenhaal and his Nine Stories Productions and Cumberbatch and his Sunny March production company with Adam Ackland. Nine Stories partner Riva Marker will also produce.

Studiocanal is planning to take the movie to the Cannes Film Festival to sell to international markets.

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