Search Film, Company, People...

MIDNIGHT MOVIE IN MANHATTAN

By Terence DONNELLAN

BLASKET MCMANUS PRODUCTIONS - as PROD

Drama - Development 2026

A young woman flees her fiancé and family to go into Manhattan to meet a troubled movie star who is trying to finish his independent film about the tragedy of American democracy and the degradation of Hollywood.

- Year of production
- 2026
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
- Countries
- USA
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Budget
- 5 - 10 M$
- Duration
- 111 mn
- Director(s)
- Terence DONNELLAN
- Writer(s)
- Terence DONNELLAN
- Producer(s)
- Terence DONNELLAN
- Synopsis
- Cannes? The Cannes Film Festival? Who goes to Cannes?
  
  Not the ones who settle. Not the ones who marry their high school sweetheart, work dead-end jobs, and grow fat and old in their hometown. Cannes is for people who take chances with their lives. People who reach for the golden ring. People just like you.
  
  Meet Chloe Hope, 24. She’s stuck in her hometown, trapped in a life she never chose, about to marry her high school boyfriend. But Chloe says no. She wants more—much more.
  
  She flees her fiancé and family to go into Manhattan to meet Finnegan Greeves, 48, a once-glorified movie star tired of playing greenscreen superheroes while his dreams of meaningful filmmaking fade. Rejecting Hollywood’s empty promises, Finnegan decides to make the film he’s always wanted—one that takes a hard look at the collapse of American democracy and the soul of Hollywood itself. If he can get it finished, he's taking it to Cannes.
  
  Chloe and Finnegan are the unlikely leads in my next film, Midnight Movie in Manhattan—a comedy-drama that taps into themes of ambition, truthful expression, and reinvention. The script was crafted with a clear understanding of the target audience and the budget required to effectively reach that audience for a realistic and profitable ROI.
  
  The casting concept—pairing a younger female lead with an older male co-star—echoes films like Lost in Translation, with Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray. Their relationship is not romantic in a traditional sense but rooted in shared emotional displacement.
  
  I'm an award-winning filmmaker (writer, director, producer) whose work spans film festivals, broadcast TV, and international streaming platforms.
  
  I have a full package ready: pitch deck, business plan, budget, and schedule—developed in collaboration with a UTA line producer whose credits include Sundance, Tribeca, and Berlin.
  
  If you'd like to hear more, please drop me a line.
  
  (No, this isn't a traditional synopsis. This is a window into the film and the man who is making it.)