In the wake of being acquired by Amazon, MGM has made its first bold theatrical move, picking up worldwide distribution rights to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s first U.S.-set feature film, Bones and All. Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Jessica Harper, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Gordon-Green, Francesca Scorsese and Chloë Sevigny star.

Directed by Guadagnino and written by his longtime collaborator David Kajganich (Suspiria, A Bigger Splash), the pic is adapted from the Camille DeAngelis novel. The pic reps a reteam with Guadagnino and his Call Me by Your Name actors Chalamet and Stuhlbarg.

The movie is a story of first love between Maren (Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter, as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap doors of Ronald Reagan’s America. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.

Said Michael De Luca, MGM Film Group Chairman and Pam Abdy, MGM Film Group President: “Since his earliest days, Luca has been obsessed with movies, which makes him a kindred spirit to us both. We have long admired his devotion to the kind of cinema that is both admired and passionately discussed by moviegoing audiences. He is the rare filmmaker whose two-decades long career has spanned countless genres and subjects, and throughout he has remained true to his unique vision. We are equally thrilled to be working with Timothée, Taylor, Mark and this outstanding ensemble cast whose work in Bones and All will be a must see on the big screen.”

Said Guadagnino: “I am delighted that MGM, a studio that so clearly loves filmmakers and respects bold vision, is going to bring my movie into the world and that the amazing work of Timothée, Taylor, Mark and the rest of the cast will be seen in theaters. Bones and All could not be in better hands with Kevin Ulrich, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy at the helm. I am truly proud to be associated with the iconic lion that has roared at the start of so many of my favorite films over the decades.”

The movie was shot in the Ohio Tri-State area in the spring of 2021. We’re hearing that Bones and All likely will not make its way to Cannes Film Festival in time for a world premiere.

Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, and won for James Ivory’s Best Adapted Screenplay. The pic blasted off the career of Chalamet as a leading star, the actor landing a Best Actor Oscar nom for the pic back in 2018. Guadagnino’s next movie after Call Me by Your Name was the remake of Dario Argento’s horror giallo, Suspiria, which was released by Amazon in theaters, and starred Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton and Chloe Grace Moretz.

MGM during the pandemic has delivered some solid adult movies at the box office including the Oscar-nominated House of Gucci, which made over $156M WW and $53.8M at the domestic B.O., and the Channing Tatum family movie, Dog, which has racked up $54.4M. Even its three-time Oscar nominated Licorice Pizza has been a bright spot for specialty cinemas with a $17M domestic gross (near $30M WW), a result that’s significantly better than other indie distrib rivals’ titles.

Bones and All is a Frenesy Film Company and Per Capita Productions title in association with The Apartment Pictures – a Fremantle company, Memo Films and 3 Marys Entertainment. The movie is produced by Guadagnino, Theresa Park, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Dave Kaiganich, Marco Morabito, Lorenzo Mieli, Gabriele Moratti and Peter Spears. The movie is executive produced by Giovanni Corrado, Raffaella Viscardi, Marco Colombo and Moreno Zani.

The film’s financiers are the Italian companies The Apartment Pictures (a Fremantle Company), 3 Marys Entertainment, Memo Films, Tenderstories, Elafilm, Excelsa, Serfis and Wise Pictures.

The pic’s sale was handled by WME on behalf of Frenesy Film Company, The Apartment Pictures (a Fremantle Company), Memo Films and 3 Marys Entertainment. Vision Distribution will distribute the movie in Italy.