As these things often do, it all began with a tweet. Or an Instagram, in this case.

From Roberto Pesut: “When you least expected, who pops in for dinner?”

Jellyfish: Crudo + Charbon is a unique and very popular restaurant in Old Montreal. Be sure to read more about it and check out the intriguing menu at its official website.

So, Gabriel Byrne is now in Montreal and guess what he is doing there? You guessed it, I know, because you have been paying attention and you realize that there is a film project on his schedule for this spring and summer and now it is Spring! What’s that I hear? Roll ’em!

Translation of a French article announcing the film:

The feature film “Death of a Ladies’ Man”, inspired by the work of the late Leonard Cohen, takes shape. Montreal director Matthew Bissonnette has just started filming.

The film features world-renowned actors Gabriel Byrne and Brian Gleeson, as well as Quebecers Suzanne Clément, Antoine Olivier Pilon, Karelle Tremblay and Pascale Bussieres.

The cameras of this comedy drama will shoot in Montreal and in the Ontario countryside until May 7. The co-production team between Canada and Ireland will then travel to the lands of the latter country for a few days at the end of May.

The release date of “Death of a Ladies’ Man” is not yet known. The work will revolve around Samuel O’Shea – played by Gabriel Byrne – a poetry teacher struggling with a new existential crisis. His return to Ireland will not be without surprises. His children will come alive as Antoine Olivier Pilon and Karelle Tremblay.

TVA Nouvelle April 15, 2019

Official Press Release

CAMERAS ROLL ON FEATURE FILM DEATH OF A LADIES’ MAN
Gabriel Byrne stars in the Leonard Cohen-inspired comedic drama

Montreal – April 15, 2019 – Corey Marr Productions, Don Carmody Productions, MCP Productions and Port Pictures announced today the start of production on the feature film DEATH OF A LADIES’ MAN, directed by Matthew Bissonnette (Passenger Side, Who Loves the Sun) from his own script. The Canada/Ireland co-production continues filming in Montreal and rural Ontario until May 7th before moving to the west coast of Ireland between May 20th and 28th, 2019.

Inspired by the work of Leonard Cohen, and set to some of his most beloved music, Death of a Ladies’ Man tells the funny, magical and emotional journey of Samuel O’Shea (GABRIEL BYRNE), a womanizing poetry professor whose second or third mid-life crisis takes a fantastical, grave and then sublime turn when he returns to his family cottage in Ireland and meets the woman of his dreams who is full of unexpected surprises.

Gabriel Byrne, recent recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Film & Television Academy for his distinguished, decades-long career in film and television (Miller’s Crossing, The Usual Suspects, Hereditary, HBO’s In Treatment) stars alongside Brian Gleeson (Phantom Thread, Mother!), Suzanne Clément (Mommy, Un Certain Regard – Best Actress winner for Laurence Anyways), Antoine Olivier Pilon (Mommy), Karelle Tremblay (The Fireflies Are Gone), and Pascale Bussières (The Blue Butterfly).

Producers of Death of a Ladies’ Man are Corey Marr (Bissonnette’s producer on Passenger Side and Who Loves the Sun), Don Carmody (Chicago, Resident Evil series, Orphan, Silent Hill series), Marie- Claude Poulin (Brooklyn, Café de Flore, War Witch/Rebelle) and Martina Niland (Once, Sing Street).

Death of a Ladies’ Man is made possible with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada, Monte Rosso Productions, SODEC, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, The Canadian Media Fund (CMF), Ontario Creates, Bell Media’s Crave and The Harold Greenberg Fund, CBC Films and the Western Regional Audiovisual Producer’s Fund (WRAP Fund). The film was developed with the assistance of Telefilm Canada, The Harold Greenberg Fund and Ontario Creates.

Death of a Ladies’ Man will be distributed in Canada by Mongrel Media and Métropole Films. International sales will be handled by Celluloid Dreams.

From: CTVM.info April 16, 2019

A few words with Brian Gleeson

Mr. Gleeson is a very busy man these days! He’s working with his family on a short film, which sounds like a lot more fun that it probably should be, and he will have a lead role in the new Peaky Blinders as well. He can now add playing an important part in Gabriel’s new movie, Death of a Ladies’ Man, to his schedule:

This summer, he will co-star with Gabriel Byrne in Death of a Ladies’ Man, a movie inspired by and featuring the songs of Leonard Cohen.
“It’s a dramedy about a college professor who is trying to write a novel and he is visited by the ghost of his past. It’s all inspired by Leonard Cohen’s music. They got the rights to the music and the music will be threaded through. Gabriel plays a very dry, very funny kind of character, which he kind of is himself.”

The Irish Examiner March 15, 2019
Brian Gleeson

This new film has its IMDB Page up now and there is bound to be more news soon, so stay tuned! heart

7 Comments

  1. Sounds like a good movie and cast.

  2. I missed this news as I was in South America and just returned today. Happy that production on this film has begun in Montréal and rural Ontario, which is close to my home. This film has so much going for it. The cast is excellent and the inspiration of Leonard Cohen is very promising indeed. Although one may think Cohen’s music is dark, the man himself was deep, wry and witty, according to his interviews and biographers.

    • South America!? I wondered where you’d gotten off to, Angelle.

      I’m doing a deep dive into Leonard Cohen’s oeuvre now. There is so much I’ve missed over the past two decades! Catching up with him is lovely. Between his songs and poems and reading the Mueller Report, I am on a rollercoaster! ;-)

  3. The cities of Montréal and Ottawa today declared state of emergencies due to flooding. Not sure how this will affect filming. Stay tuned.

  4. There are several large sound stages in the city, and can avoid problem areas, so they are probably fine. The cast includes two of Canada’s leading female actors. I wonder which one will play the “woman of his dreams” or is there an Irish actress that we don’t know about? I guess we will have to wait to find out.

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