John Magaro Joins Josh O’Connor & Alana Haim In Kelly Reichardt’s Art Heist Pic ‘The Mastermind’

EXCLUSIVE: John Magaro (Past Lives) has closed a deal to star opposite Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim in writer-director Kelly Reichardt’s next film, The Mastermind.

Magaro comes to the project after collaborating with Reichardt on her A24 films First Cow and Showing Up, having earned a Gotham Award nomination for Best Actor for his work on the former. While the new film centers on an audacious art heist amid the backdrop of the Vietnam War, there’s no word yet on the role Magaro is playing.

Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, and Vincent Savino are producing for filmscience, with MUBI financing the film and distributing in select territories, including North America, the UK, Ireland, LATAM, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, and India. UTA Independent Film Group arranged financing, and The Match Factory is handling remaining worldwide sales.

Filmscience comes to the project as a partner of Reichardt’s on all of her films since 2006’s Old Joy. The film will be the director’s second with MUBI, which acquired all rights internationally (outside of China) to First Cow.

Magaro garnered rave reviews for his work opposite Greta Lee in A24’s romantic drama Past Lives, which was nominated for the Oscars for Best Picture and Screenplay this past season. Next up, he’ll be seen starring opposite Peter Sarsgaard in the drama September 5, examining news coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympic hostage crisis, which was snapped up by Paramount following its buzzy Venice launch and is expected to be a major awards contender. Other upcoming projects include Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Frankenstein pic The Bride! and Paramount+ with Showtime’s forthcoming espionage thriller series The Agency opposite Michael Fassbender and Jodie Turner-Smith.

Magaro is represented by UTA, Authentic Talent and Literary Management, and Felker Toczek Suddleson.