Ross White and Tom Berkeley, the filmmaking duo behind the Oscar- and BAFTA-winning short film “An Irish Goodbye,” have teamed up with Studiocanal, Working Title, Parkville Pictures and Film4 for their first feature film, casting two highly sought-after stars as leads.
“The End of the World as We Know It” stars BAFTA winner Jack O’Connell (“Ink”) and BAFTA nominee Odessa A’zion (“Marty Supreme”) as two hapless loners who meet on an epic journey to prove the world is flat.
Described as “an unexpected adventure in truth and love,” the film is written and directed by Berkeley and White and production will begin in Canada in November. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing for Living Title Films, while Parkville is produced by Olivier Kaempfer (who previously produced with Studiocanal the dark comedy “Everybody Wants to F— Me,” which bowed TIFF along with Working Title in the romantic comedy “Finding Emily,” starring Taron Egerton and released by Focus earlier this year).
“The End of the World as We Know It” is entirely financed by Studiocanal. Film4 will co-finance and executive produce. Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin will executive produce for Studiocanal. Katherine Pomfret and Thea Paulett will executive produce for Living Title. Amanda Drake EP from Notable Studios. Studiocanal will release the film theatrically in its territories in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia and New Zealand, and will also handle worldwide sales.
“‘The End of the World as We Know It’ is a story we discover while hiding in the strangest of places, but it seems to speak deeply to our collective search for meaning, belonging, and love in an increasingly diverse world,” said Berkeley and White. “We feel incredibly lucky to have the incomparable Jack O’Connell and Odessa A’zion bring these hapless loners to life, and we can’t wait to take audiences on these unique, cinematic journeys with the support of the great teams at Studiocanal, Working Title, Parkville and Film4.”
White and Berkeley’s dark comedy short “An Irish Goodbye,” starring Seamus O’Hara, James Martin, Paddy Jenkins and Michelle Fairley, was a smash during awards season after playing at more than 60 international film festivals in 2022 and 2023. The film, which tells the story of two estranged siblings reunited in rural Northern Ireland following the death of their mother, won the BAFTA 2023 Academy Award for Best Short Film. British Short Film and IFTA Award for best short film.
Tom Berkeley and Ross White
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“The End of the World as We Know It” sees Studiocanal reunite with long-time collaborator Working Title following the recent global release of “Pressure.” Working Titles include “Sense and Sensibility,” “Finding Emily,” “The Sheep Detectives,” “Crime 101,” “Goodbye June,” “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” “The Substance” and the upcoming “Werwulf.”
Studiocanal’s new films include Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” which opened the Venice Film Festival, “Elsinore,” starring Andrew Scott, which is already predicted to be the leading hit of the awards season, and “Everybody Wants to F— Me,” which will be released in 2027. In addition to “Ink,” which will be released in the U.S. on Dec. 11, Studiocanal also released the O’Connell-led “’71” in the U.K. in 2014 and produced “Back to Black,” opposite Marisa Abela.
Currently reaching the pinnacle of his career, O’Connell has several important films coming out; these include John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place Part III,” opposite Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, and Grant Sputore’s “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” the final chapter of Legendary’s Monsterverse, opposite Dan Stevens, Kaitlyn Dever and the late Sam Neill. He is represented by Conway Van Gelder Grant in the UK and by UTA and Range Media Partners in the US.
Since debuting in “Marty Supreme,” A’zion has had a regular role on Rachel Sennott’s HBO series “I Love LA,” and will next appear alongside Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, Dianne Wiest and Toby Wallace in Cody Fern’s directorial debut, “Mother Courage,” as well as Andrew Scott, Allison Janey, Benedict Wong and Cherry Jones in Justine Triet’s upcoming comedy “Fonda.” UTA is represented by Luber Roklin, Granderson Des Rochers and The Lede Company.
Berkeley and White are represented by Francesca Devas at Independent Talent and Craig Kestel and Marco Alvarez at WME.