Saban Films is in final negotiations to pick up North American and multiple territorial rights including UK and Ireland, German Speaking Europe, Scandinavia, Spain, Benelux and Australia to the John Hay directed WW2 spy thriller Lives in Secret, starring Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist).  Gainsbourg plays intelligence officer Vera Atkins, who made it her mission to discover the fate of missing agents she had dispatched to Occupied France after the conflict. Hugh Bonneville plays a high-ranking SS officer.  Principal photography will begin in Q4 in Eastern Europe, with Saban Films releasing the film in 2023.

Lives in Secret is produced by Jeremy Bolt of JB Pictures, Chris Milburn of Illustrious Media and Matthew Kuipers.  Executive producers include Glenn Kendrick Ackermann, Jason Piette, Ewan Dunbar and Olivier Albou.

Lives in Secret is adapted from Sarah Helm’s best-selling book, A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII, recounting the true story of Atkins, an intelligence officer for Special Operation Executive’s French Section who trained and dispatched hundreds of agents to Occupied France, many of whom didn’t return and was the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s Miss Moneypenny. 

Saban Film’s Bill Bromiley said: “Lives in Secret is a compelling thriller, based on a remarkable true and inspiring story with two of the most riveting actors of our time.  We trust our partners and excited to see John Hay bring this remarkable story to the screen.” 

Disrupting Influence, who is handling international sales with Other Angle, brokered the deal on behalf of the filmmakers with Saban Film’s Bill Bromiley. DI and Paris-based sales firm Other Angle previously closed deals with Canal Plus for France as well as the Middle East, Portugal and other international territories in advance of Cannes.