Shia LaBeouf, Mel Gibson Team for 'Rothchild' Satire

Jon S. Baird, who helmed recent hit 'Stan & Ollie,' directs, with HanWay repping international sales.

Cannes is looking like a particularly busy market for Mel Gibson.

The actor's latest project and his third hitting the Croisette — Rothchild — will see him star alongside Shia LaBeouf, with Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie) in the director's chair.

The black comedy will center on Becket Rothchild (Shia LaBeouf) — the bastard child of a mother, who in eloping with a jazz musician was cast out from the Rothchild family and its vast fortune — who was never given a fair lot in life. All grown up and armed with charisma, intelligence and a flair for opportunity, it does not take long for Becket to fully grasp the immense gap between his situation and the richest 1 percent, which should be his birthright. He has a plan.

There are precisely nine Rothchild family members who stand between him and his fortune, including Whitelaw (Gibson), his sinister grandfather. How hard could it be for them each to meet with an “accident”? With the unique advantage of being unknown to any of them, Becket penetrates the weird and twisted lives of his super-rich kin amongst frat boys, hipster artists and reality TV stars. The only thing that threatens to get in the way is love, both old and new.

HanWay Films has acquired the international sales rights and will add the film to a Cannes slate that also includes Robin Wright’s feature directorial debut Land, John Patrick Shanley’s Wild Mountain Thyme and Takashi Miike’s First Love. CAA Media Finance is handling the North American rights.

“Baird has proved to be brilliant at edgy dark comedy bringing Irvine Welsh’s Filth to life, then showed his mainstream chops with the beloved Stan & Ollie," said HanWay Managing Director Gabrielle Stewart. "Here he has a chance to combine all his skills and bring to life a real twist on the classic rags to riches story. The divide between the super rich and the rest of the world is an ever growing one, and it’s both fun and fascinating to delve into its inner bowels along with our hero trying to scramble to the top and claim his piece."

LaBeouf is represented by CAA, John Crosby Management and attorney Matt Saver; and Gibson by CAA. Baird is represented by CAA, Independent Talent Group and Morris Yorn.