Hong Kong's Cappu Films Takes International Sales on Mazzello Thriller "A Grim Life"
Joseph Mazzello leads "A Grim Life," a supernatural thriller set inside Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel, and a Hong Kong company now holds the rights to sell it abroad. Variety reported on 29 October 2026 that Cappu Films has acquired international sales rights to the project. Those rights let a sales company offer a film to distributors in markets outside its home country.
The film was unveiled at TIFFCOM, the industry market held alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival. Cappu Films had earlier shown the project to buyers in Busan, South Korea.
Francesco Lucente wrote and directed the film. He previously made the drama "Badland" and the fantasy "Starbright," which stars Ted Levine, John Rhys-Davies and Diego Boneta.
Mazzello plays Tom, a filmmaker. The supporting cast includes Max Beesley as producer Joe, Wes Studi as Nic, Carl Lumbly as Henry and Arnetia Walker as Chelsea. Studi received an Academy Honorary Award in 2019.
The production timetable is set out as follows. Pre-production, the planning stage before filming, is scheduled for December 2026. Shooting is scheduled for January 2027, and delivery, the handover of the finished film, for July 2027.
Cappu Films also has a slate of other projects. Its titles include the fantasy "Sinbad," also directed by Lucente, and the action films "Lion Fist" and "Red Bird." A separate Variety report from 26 October 2026 says DNEG, the visual effects company behind "The Odyssey," co-finances "Sinbad" with Cappu.
A sales deal at this stage means buyers are committing before a single frame has been shot. They are working from a script, a cast list and a schedule. Whether the film reaches cinemas or screens elsewhere will depend on the decisions that follow, including the shoot itself and the sales that come after it.
