Focus Features has already scheduled Willem Dafoe’s next big screen role after seeing him in Dead For a Dollar. Inside, a psychological thriller starring Dafoe as a misfortunate art thief was acquired by a major studio, and its scheduled release date of March 10, 2023, was announced. Director Vasilis Katsoupis, who previously directed the documentary My Friend Larry Gus, is making his feature film debut with this film. The art thief Nemo is followed inside after a botched theft. He is cornered in a high-tech New York penthouse without any means of escape other than the priceless artworks he was attempting to steal. There is no simple way out, leaving him with just his wits.
Katsoupis conceived up the film’s story, while Ben Hopkins, who will also create the script for the forthcoming Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie, wrote the screenplay. “With Inside, Focus continues its commitment to first-time and international filmmakers,” said Kiska Higgs, president of production and acquisitions at Focus Features. “In this aesthetically spectacular and thought-provoking video, Vasilis investigates a subject that has become all too familiar to us: loneliness.” The focus will handle the film’s release in the United States and Canada, while Universal International will oversee international sales and distribution.
Katsoupis, Jim Stark, Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Charles E. Breitkreuz, Martin Lehwald, Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem, and Stephen Kelliher served as executive producers, while Giorgos Karnavas, Marcos Kantis, and Dries Phlypo oversaw production.
Karnavas’s production firm, Heretic, is based in Greece and is responsible for funding the 2022 Palme d’Or winner, Triangle of Sadness. Katsoupis and Karnavas made a public statement together about their collaboration with Dafoe and the film, which read, “It’s a dream come true to have worked with Willem and so many other talented people in the film industry, who were so encouraging and helpful, and to have been able to make this film the way we envisioned it. We are very excited to show the film to the globe, and Focus is the ideal venue for doing so.” Dafoe already has several upcoming projects, like Poor Things and Gonzo Girl, and Inside is just another one of them.
The actor who has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards is a part of another Focus project, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, which is set for release later this year. Following breakout roles in Robert Eggers’ The Northman and Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, he enters Katsoupis’ debut on the heels of a stellar year in his career. Most notably, he reprised his role as the Green Goblin in Marvel’s multiverse smash Spider-Man: No Way Home, which earned $1.98 billion worldwide and ranked as the sixth highest-grossing film of all time. On March 10, 2023, you may purchase Inside.