Magnolia Pictures Buys Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee Drama ‘Late Fame’ (Exclusive)

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “Late Fame,” the acclaimed new film from “Diane” director Kent Jones. It world premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival and later played at the New York Film Festival.

“Late Fame” stars Oscar-nominee Willem Dafoe, as well as “Past Lives” breakout Greta Lee. Edmund Donovan (“Civil War”) co-stars. Magnolia plans to release the film in 2026. Jones, who was the former director of the New York Film Festival, also made the documentary “Hitchcock/Truffaut.”

The film was written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Samy Burch (“May December”) and is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s novella of the same name. It follows Ed Saxberger (Dafoe), a forgotten New York poet who works in a post office. After an eager and flattering fan (Donovan) appears on his doorstep, Saxberger is beckoned into a coterie of younger admirers who anoint him as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by the attention,…