Michelle Yeoh will star in the action title The Surgeon, which has become the latest sales title to join Patrick Wachsberger’s Cannes slate at his fledgling outfit 193.
Yeoh, who won the lead actress Oscar in 2023 for Everything Everywhere All At Once, will play the titular character, a retired surgeon, who must fight her way out after she is abducted and coerced into operating on a mystery patient.
Roshan Sethi wrote and will direct the project, which reunites Wachsberger and John Wick producers Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road – that franchise began when Wachsberger ran Lionsgate’s motion picture group – alongside John Schoenfelder and Russell Ackerman for Neotext, Adam Kolbrenner for Lit Entertainment, and Steve Klinsky for Untravelled Worlds.
“Michelle is a cinematic force and a perfect match for this role,” said Wachsberger. “She blends grace and power, bringing emotional depth to even the most physical sequences. With her leading the cast and Roshan drawing on his singular perspective to tell a story only he could, we have a captivating franchise coming to life, and we look forward to bringing it to audiences around the world.”
Yeoh’s credits include Wicked, A Haunting In Venice, Crazy Rich Asians, and the upcoming Wicked: For Good.
The 193 sales roster here in Cannes includes Lynne Ramsay’s Competition selection Die, My Love starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson; Miramax’s Colman Domingo feature directorial debut Scandalous! starring Sydney Sweeney and former Screen Star Of Tomorrow David Jonsson; and Peter Dinklage in Macon Blair’s completed The Toxic Avenger remake, opening through Cineverse in the US.
