Scoot McNairy (Argo, Gone Girl, A Quiet Place Part II), Kit Harington (HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Eternals), and Josh Lucas (Ford v. Ferrari, The Forever Purge, “Yellowstone”) are set to star in the action thriller feature film Blood For Dust. Rod Blackhurst (Netflix’s Amanda Knox, Peacock’s “John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise”) will direct the shoot this September from a story by himself and David Ebeltoft (Here Alone) which they both scripted.
Former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal weapons dealer making serious money, reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Lucas). Reluctantly he agrees to retrofit his beat-up station wagon to carry dozens of kilos of drugs. When Ricky turns a simple exchange into a bloodbath to eliminate the competition, Cliff realizes his harsh new reality. John’s money and drugs soon bring hard retribution to the duo, and every scenario escalates to an explosive conclusion where Cliff must fight just to stay alive.
Noah Lang (HBO Max’s “This is Not a War Story,” Sony Classics’ The Climb), Mark Fasano (Hulu’s Sex Appeal, Momentum Pictures’ Haunt) and Bernard Kira (Millennium’s The Piper) are producing. Exec producing is Ford Corbett along with Ebeltoft.
Highland Film Group is handling world sales rights and launching sales at the Marché du Film. UTA co-repping domestic.
“While Blood For Dust is a story born from the realities of our times, it’s also a pulse pounding thriller about family, pain, greed, mobile defibrillator units, the American dream and its contradictions therein. I’m beyond grateful to be getting into the trenches alongside Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas – all of them fathers, like myself, working to take care of our families while anxiously wondering what the future of our times has in store as we tell this parable of America,” noted Blackhurst.
“Blood for Dust promises to be a nail-biting action-packed thriller. And Cliff’s struggle to adapt to his new life and misfit partnership adds an element of vulnerability that heightens the suspense as the story unfolds,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Scoot McNairy and Kit Harington are perfectly matched to portray the ill-fated partners in this tale of greed and ambition. And we know that Josh Lucas is perfectly cast in the role of their drug and gun dealing boss,” added Highland Film Group COO Delphine Perrier.
McNairy is repped by UTA and The Group Management. Harington is repped by UTA, United Agents and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Lucas is repped by WME, Liebman Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman. Blackhurst is repped by UTA, Circle of Confusion and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
Highland Film Group’s current sales slate of films also includes the action thriller Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth; Neil LaBute’s Fear the Night starring Maggie Q; Daniel Casey’s Wardriver starring Dane DeHaan and Sophie Turner; Rusty Cundieff’s 57 Seconds starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson; the horror thriller Felix starring Benjamin Evan Ainsworth; John Stalberg Jr.’s Muzzle starring Aaron Eckhart; One True Loves starring Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu, Phillipa Soo and Luke Bracey; Adrian Grünberg’s thriller The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas; James Cullen Bressack’s Hot Seat starring Mel Gibson and Kevin Dillon; K. Asher Levin’s Slayers starring Thomas Jane, Abigail Breslin and Malin Akerman; Renny Harlin’s The Misfits starring Pierce Brosnan, Nick Cannon and Tim Roth; Allan Ungar’s Bandit starring Josh Duhamel, Mel Gibson and Elisha Cuthbert; Stephan Rick’s The Good Neighbor starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Luke Kleintank and Avan Jogia’s Door Mouse starring Hayley Law, Famke Janssen and Keith Powers.