--- title: 'Javier Bardem and Marion Cotillard Join ‘The Turning Door’ as It Heads to TIFF' type: 'blog post' section: 'Away From Set' format: 'Editorial feature' standfirst: 'Vanessa Redgrave, Anna von Hausswolff and newcomer Pippa Kelly have also joined Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s animated fantasy, now in production and being pitched to buyers at TIFF: The Market. The film has a box, a portal, original songs and no release date yet.' author: 'Dorothy Kwan' published: '2026-09-05' updated: '2026-09-05' about_people: - 'Marion Cotillard' - 'Vanessa Redgrave' - 'Javier Bardem' tags: - 'The Turning Door animated movie cast' - 'Javier Bardem Marion Cotillard Vanessa Redgrave animation' - 'Nicholas Ashe Bateman The Turning Door' - 'The Turning Door TIFF market footage' - 'animated fantasy original songs cast' sources: - 'https://movies.mxdwn.com/news/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-and-vanessa-redgrave-join-indie-animated-film/' - 'https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-vanessa-redgrave-join-cast-of-animated-movie-the-turning-door-101788420128932.html' - 'https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-and-vanessa-redgrave-join-animated-feature-the-turning-door/ar-AA2bvyHB' - 'https://variety.com/2026/film/global/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-animation-the-turning-door-1236849095/' - 'https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/bardem-cotillard-redgrave-join-turning-door-animated-film-1236687901/' - 'https://deadline.com/2026/09/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-join-the-turning-door-1237065462/' - 'https://www.screendaily.com/news/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-and-vanessa-redgrave-join-voice-cast-of-the-turning-door/5219926.article' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/blog/javier-bardem-and-marion-cotillard-join-the-turning-door-as-it-heads-to-tiff' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Javier Bardem and Marion Cotillard Join ‘The Turning Door’ as It Heads to TIFF *Vanessa Redgrave, Anna von Hausswolff and newcomer Pippa Kelly have also joined Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s animated fantasy, now in production and being pitched to buyers at TIFF: The Market. The film has a box, a portal, original songs and no release date yet.* By Dorothy Kwan, 2026-09-05 · Away From Set Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard and Vanessa Redgrave have joined the voice cast of *The Turning Door*, Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s independent animated fantasy, with production underway and new footage headed to buyers at TIFF: The Market later this month, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported on September 2. Anna von Hausswolff and newcomer Pippa Kelly are also aboard. For film readers, the news is less about three famous names decorating a poster than about what this project is selling: a family fantasy built around original songs, an international sales push and a cast that now includes Bardem, Cotillard, Redgrave, Alicia Vikander, Jamie Dornan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bill Nighy and Gillian Anderson. That is a lot of marquee voltage for a movie whose release date remains unknown. ## Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard and Vanessa Redgrave Enter The Turning The three new additions will voice characters in the film, though no outlet has reported which characters they play. That blank matters. The announcement gives us actors, not roles, so any attempt to assign Bardem a sorcerer or Redgrave a queen would be fan fiction with a trade-publication accent. The existing cast is almost comically stacked. Vikander, Dornan, Turner-Smith, Nighy and Anderson were announced earlier, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Von Hausswolff, a Swedish composer and musician, has joined as both performer and cast member, while Kelly plays the lead, Ariadlyn, in her first screen role. The project comes from Bateman, the filmmaker and artist behind *The Wanting Mare*. Screen Daily called *The Turning Door* his second feature. Mister Smith Entertainment introduced the film to buyers at the American Film Market in 2025 and plans to continue international sales at TIFF, where it will present fresh footage. ![Vanessa redgrave handprint](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/74c19dbe-375f-4c3f-addf-50f14edf7436.webp) *Photo: Abxbay · [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vanessa_redgrave_handprint.jpg)* ## A Box in a Closet, Then a Door to The Turning The story begins with Ariadlyn finding a mysterious box hidden in her parents’ closet. The box grows into an open door, and she falls into another world called The Turning. The official synopsis says she encounters old magic, strange creatures, new lands, alchemy, dreams and songs while trying to get home and save her parents. That is the kind of premise that can sound like a child’s storybook or a sales deck after three coffees. The reports do not tell us what the animation looks like, how the world works on screen or whether the film has found a tone beyond the nouns in its synopsis. The film has not been released, and none of the coverage describes finished scenes. We know the machinery of the pitch; we do not know the movie’s pulse. The one genuine jolt is the music. The cast will perform original songs written by Bateman and Claire Givens, whose credits include *Mother Mary* and *People Museum*. An animated fantasy that asks Bardem, Cotillard and Redgrave to sing is at least making a clear wager. Whether that wager pays off is a question for the film, not the announcement. ![Javier Bardem at the 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, California.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/3a9974d6-66b5-462a-aca3-98962ec36cf7.webp) ![Marion Cotillard tapis rouge c](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/68b89457-9039-4d1a-9cae-1c59c652f12e.webp) *Photos: Lyn Fairly Media · [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Javier_Bardem_during_an_interview,_March_2022_(3).jpg); Mathis Desperrois · [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marion_Cotillard_tapis_rouge_c.jpg)* ## Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s Happy-Dream Language Bateman’s statement is where the project starts sounding like a committee in a room full of mood boards. He said he had spent years writing and dreaming of parts for great actors, called the performers “iconic artists,” and praised their talents, life experience and wish to make hopeful pictures for young people. He ended with the selling point: audiences will hear them sing. The language is sincere, perhaps. It is also publicity language doing what publicity language does: turning a cast list into a moral event. The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Deadline all carried versions of the same statement. The facts underneath are simpler. Bateman wrote and directed the film. Givens co-wrote the music. A group of high-profile performers agreed to lend their voices and songs to an animated feature still being made. That is enough. The adjectives do not add a second film. ![One of three interview pieces introducing the activist actor Vanessa Redgrave. Photo Credit - Farouq Archives.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/2fc33d5c-8499-4023-a153-23920c8a74cd.webp) ![Javier Bardem at the 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, California.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/6563cb09-d63c-49cf-9cc4-b96ebb8307da.webp) *Photos: Mblegacy · [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:One_of_three_interview_pieces_introducing_the_activist_actor_Vanessa_Redgrave._Photo_Credit_-_Farouq_Archives.jpg); Lyn Fairly Media · [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Javier_Bardem_during_an_interview,_March_2022.jpg)* ## TIFF Gets Footage; The Film Still Has No Date Mister Smith is handling international sales and co-representing North American rights with After Hours, the production company tied to Christine D’Souza. Hunter Hall and Bateman’s Maere Studios are also producing, with Laura Rister producing for Esme Grace Pictures. Kharmel Cochrane cast the film. TIFF: The Market gives *The Turning Door* a business appointment before it has a public release appointment. Buyers will see new footage, and the project will try to turn its cast and musical hook into distribution deals. That is the immediate consequence of the casting news. The less glamorous consequence is the waiting. Production is underway. A release date has not been announced. The characters played by Bardem, Cotillard and Redgrave remain undisclosed. For now, *The Turning Door* is a box, an expanding door, a young heroine named Ariadlyn and a roomful of famous voices waiting to prove that the songs are more than a very expensive invitation to imagine them. ## How this piece was made **Format:** Editorial feature ## In this piece - [Marion Cotillard](https://cinepixo.com/people/marion-cotillard) - [Vanessa Redgrave](https://cinepixo.com/people/vanessa-redgrave) - [Javier Bardem](https://cinepixo.com/people/javier-bardem) ## Sources - https://movies.mxdwn.com/news/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-and-vanessa-redgrave-join-indie-animated-film/ - https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-vanessa-redgrave-join-cast-of-animated-movie-the-turning-door-101788420128932.html - https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-and-vanessa-redgrave-join-animated-feature-the-turning-door/ar-AA2bvyHB - https://variety.com/2026/film/global/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-animation-the-turning-door-1236849095/ - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/bardem-cotillard-redgrave-join-turning-door-animated-film-1236687901/ - https://deadline.com/2026/09/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-join-the-turning-door-1237065462/ - https://www.screendaily.com/news/javier-bardem-marion-cotillard-and-vanessa-redgrave-join-voice-cast-of-the-turning-door/5219926.article Every factual claim above is drawn from these. The reading of them is ours. Source: https://cinepixo.com/blog/javier-bardem-and-marion-cotillard-join-the-turning-door-as-it-heads-to-tiff Written for CinePixo. Nothing on this page is imported prose.