Paramount has closed a deal with StudioCanal for North American and multiple foreign territories on The Midnight Library, the Florence Pugh-led adaptation that drew a heated auction out of Cannes. The package now sits with Paramount after a race that made it one of the most closely watched sales on the market.
The timing matters because the deal lands just as the project moves from the auction block toward production. Cameras are expected to roll early next year, giving Paramount a high-profile fantasy drama built around Pugh, who is set to bring Nora to life in the film based on Matt Haig’s 2020 novel.
The scale of the win helps explain why the package drew so much attention. StudioCanal is producing the $70 million feature with Blueprint Pictures, while Laura Wade and Nick Payne are adapting the novel and Garth Davis is directing. Haig’s book has sold more than 15 million copies, which made the property a prized target long before the bidding intensified.
That bidding did not let up. Focus Features and Sony were also in the mid-$30 million range for the package, showing Paramount did not secure it without real competition. Deadline reported that the title was the highest out of Cannes, a sign of how aggressively buyers pursued a story that combines a best-selling novel, a recognizable star and an established director.
For Paramount, the acquisition is also the first for Lia Buman’s team since she joined the company in December 2025, with Sejin Croninger leading negotiations for the studio. On the StudioCanal side, Anne Cherel and Aska Yamaguchi handled the talks, as the two companies locked in a deal that stretches beyond one territory and gives the film a broad launch path before a release date has even been set.
The project’s setup is straightforward, but the commercial appetite behind it is not. The Midnight Library follows Nora Seed, a woman who finds herself in a library between life and death and gets the chance to explore the lives she might have lived. With Florence Pugh in the lead and cameras due to start early next year, the next question is no longer whether the movie gets made. It is how quickly Paramount can turn a crowded auction prize into a finished film.
