Netflix Takes Worldwide Rights to Joel Coen's 'Jack of Spades', Plans Fall 2027 Cinema Release

Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to "Jack of Spades," a gothic mystery directed by Joel Coen, and plans a fall 2027 cinema release before the film reaches the streaming service. Variety reported the deal on 2 November 2026. Worldwide rights means the streamer can release the film in every country.

The sale was brokered by UTA, the talent agency. Netflix is putting the film in cinemas first, a window of more than a year before it arrives on the platform, which is a clear move on the calendar for a title that has not yet been seen by audiences.

The film is adapted from Frances Frederica Montrésor's 1901 novel "The Alien: A Story of Middle Age," and it is set in 1880s Scotland. The screenplay is credited to Eleanor Catton, Joel and Ethan Coen and Conor McPherson. Patsy Ferran stars, alongside Josh O'Connor, Damian Lewis and Lesley Manville.

Filming wrapped in Glasgow in late 2025. Deadline first reported in May 2025 that O'Connor had been cast, and at that time the shoot was planned on location in Scotland over the summer. Variety says the first cut ran nearly 150 minutes.

Joel Coen produces with Robert Graf and Frances McDormand. Steven Rales produces for Indian Paintbrush, while Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin produce for Blueprint Pictures. Donald MacKinnon is an executive producer. Bruno Delbonnel shot the film, and Carter Burwell composed the score.

For Coen, this is his second solo directing credit after "The Tragedy of Macbeth." It is also his second project with Netflix. The first was the 2018 Western anthology "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," which earned three Oscar nominations, including best adapted screenplay.

What makes this deal stand out is the timing. A fall release in 2027 gives the film a full year of cinema play before streaming, a route that Netflix has used for other prestige titles. The date is a plan, not yet a confirmed schedule of cinemas or markets.

Netflix has not, in the reporting so far, said which cinemas or countries will open first. Those details will shape how the film is sold, and they are the next thing to watch.