Janus Films Acquires Lav Diaz’s Cannes Drama Magellan for North America

Janus Films has acquired the North American rights to Lav Diaz's historical drama "Magellan," which premiered out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Gael García Bernal as the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, depicting his arduous expedition to the Malayan Archipelago and the ensuing violent uprisings sparked by his obsession with conquest and conversion. "Magellan" is Diaz's first feature in color since 2013 and is praised as a visually ravishing and profoundly moving epic that reveals the true story behind the myth of Magellan. The production involved multiple international co-producers, including Portugal's Rosa Filmes and collaborators from Spain, the Philippines, Taiwan, and France. Janus Films expressed excitement about bringing Diaz's work to a wider North American audience, highlighting the film as a unique collaboration between the Filipino filmmaker and Bernal. The distribution deal was negotiated with Luxbox, which described "Magellan" as a masterpiece of arthouse cinema.