Sean Penn, Frances McDormand Flick Still Has No US Distributor

“The less we say about it, the better” is a line from David Byrne’s Talking Heads song, “This Must Be the Place.” That’s also the title of the Paolo Sorrentino movie starring Sean Penn and Frances McDormand, two Oscar winners. But “This Must Be the Place,” which debuted in Cannes, can’t seem to find a US distributor. It’s set to open in France on August 24th, with dates also posted for other European cities. But so far no mention of a domestic deal. The film is also not turning up at other festivals. Will it become a cult classic? Penn plays a kind of Ozzy Osbourne/Marilyn Manson type rocker who was popular in the 1980s but lives like a semi recluse in Ireland. McDormand is his understanding but prickly wife. Then he gets a call from Brooklyn, of all places. His Holocaust survivor father has died. Penn jets to the Orthodox funeral, appearing in full make up etc. From there he decides to hunt down the Nazi who tortured his father during the war. Along the way he runs across Byrne, who performs the title song ebulliently. If this movie sounds weird and awful, it’s not…it’s just very odd and kind of fascinating. No word on what will happen. There was some buzz at Cannes that The Weinstein Company was interested, but nothing panned. It might be too weird to have movies with Penn and by Madonna in the same season, anyway.