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RANSOMED: Well Go USA Snaps Up New Kidnapping Thriller From ‘A Hard Day’ And ‘Tunnel’ Director

Set to arrive in South Korean cinemas sometime possibly in August is Ransomed, a new ripped-from-the-headlines thriller from director Kim Sung-hoon. In the meantime, reports out of Cannes have revealed acquisition for North America by Well Go USA, among a raft of pre-sales for other distributors at the market place, according to Screendaily’s Jean Noh. A YOUNG DIPLOMAT IS ASSIGNED THE TASK OF CARRYING THE RANSOM MONEY TO RESCUE AN ABDUCTED DIPLOMAT In Beirut 1986, during the Lebanese civil war, a Korean diplomat is taken hostage without a trace. Two years pass and long forgotten, a young diplomat Min-jun receives a phone call proving that the hostage is still alive. With the given mission, Min-jun is sent to Beirut to save the hostage with a bag of ransom money. However, Min-jun gets into trouble as soon as he sets foot in Beirut. As luck would have it, Minjun manages to […]

FLASH POINT 2 And IP MAN 5 Among Three Donnie Yen Actioners Announced At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Movie projects get announced all the time, and some get left on the backburner for years only to circle other directors and stars or never get made at all. That too, has been the case for action star Donnie Yen, and so as always, time will tell if the three action films revealed by Mandarin Motion Pictures at the Cannes market said to feature Yen will come to fruition. According to Screendaily’s Jean Noh, the trio of titles are Flash Point: Resurgence, Ip Man 5, and Misjudgement, and there are no directors and other stars or updates in the mix as of yet. Wilson Yip directed all four Ip Man movies leading up to Ip Man: The Finale, pitting Yen with action star Scott Adkins in the years that would see the two converge on the set of Lionsgate’s hit release, John Wick: Chapter 4. The franchise has since taken […]

A LEGEND Sales Art Takes The Floor At The Cannes Market For Jackie Chan Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Distribution Workshop is on hand at the Marche du Film repping world sales on A Legend, the latest $50M sequel fervor reuniting director Stanley Tong with actor Jackie Chan. Bits of news from around the web have all but confirmed its existence with set photos currently circulating, while news out of Cannes sorts of officiates things, in addition to key sales art which you can view at the bottom. Professor Chen, an archaeology expert, notices that the texture on the artifacts discovered by his students during a glacier expedition is strikingly similar to a jade pendant he had seen in his dreams. It seems as that the pendant is connecting the realm of dreams to reality. Filled with curiosity, Professor Chen leads the research team on a journey deep into the Glacier Temple, in search of the truth behind his dreams, embarking on a fantastical adventure together. A Legend marks […]

‘Mulan’ Stunt Double Starring In New Kung Fu Feature From ‘Freaks VS. The Reich’ Director

‘Mulan’ Stunt Double Starring In New Kung Fu Feature From ‘Freaks Out’ Director Gabriele Mainetti

Lee B. Golden III

What you’re seeing above is proof that stunt performer Liu Yaxi is the real deal on the action front, as she’s done accordingly for lead actress Crystal Liu on Disney’s live-action Mulan. Her latest move now brings her talents to Rome’s Piazza Vittorio quarter set in Italy for a title-TBA kung fu movie, now filming from They Call Me Jeeg and Freaks Out director Gabiele Mainetti. Details from Variety’s Nick Vivarelli: Set in the cosmopolitan melting pot of Rome’s Piazza Vittorio hood, Mainetti’s latest work will see two very different souls intersect. One is the son of an indebted local restaurant owner who disappeared with his lover. The other is a young mysterious woman who has just arrived in the Italian capital in search of her missing sister. “United by fate, the two will find themselves catapulted into the slums of Rome’s criminal underbelly,” reads the synopsis. “To survive they […]

THE ROUNDUP: PUNISHMENT Announces ‘The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil’ Reunion Casting Kim Moo-Yul, ‘The Roundup’ Stunt Coordinator Debut Directing

Lee B. Golden III

If you enjoyed the brutal melee of bludgeoning fists and retribution delivered by Don Lee in last year’s The Roundup and you’re ready for impending threequel The Roundup: No Way Out, you’d be wise to stay the course for its fourth outing, The Roundup: Punishment. The production is announcing actor Kim Moo-yul to the cast as the villiain, rejoining him with Lee following their brooding 2019 action thriller, Lee Won-tae’s The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, which landed a surprise addition to the screening slate for Fantasia Festival that year before releasing in North America through Well Go USA. Seasoned Korean action veteran Heo Myeong-haeng (Hunt, Extreme Job) makes his feature directorial debut on the fourth chapter of The Outlaws franchise. Heo’s credits extend as far back as more than twenty years collaborating with directors like Kim Sung-su, Kang Woo-suk, Ryoo Seung-wan, Na Hong-jin, Kim Jee-woon, Park Hoon-jung, actor Ha […]

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100 YARDS Reveals New Look At Jacky Heung In The Official Sales Art For Upcoming Martial Arts Drama

Lee B. Golden III

If it helps us stay sane for a little while longer, then yes, perhaps I’ll share the sales key art for 100 Yards, the latest martial arts drama from directing duo Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng which, until recently, only had a regional Mandarin-language title. Fortissimo Films shared the ink on its website as the latest piece of imagery following several stills that have made the rounds in the past year and spotlighting leading men Jacky Heung (Chasing Dream) and Andy On (Ride On). 1920s Tianjin, northern China. The son of a martial arts master and his most talented apprentice fight to take over a prominent martial arts academy. But rather than obey the rule of settling disputes behind closed doors, they take their fight to the street. The film is also produced by Heung and co-stars Taiwanese actor Bea Hayden Kuo (Kung Fu Monster), Tang Shiyi (The Day We […]

GUNNER: Hemsworth And Freeman Featured In First Look As Deals Land At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Highland Film Group has locked distribution deals in key international territories for action thriller Gunner. The new film is directed by Dimitri Logothetis from a script by Gary Scott Thompson. Gunner follows Special Ops veteran Lee Gunner (Luke Hemsworth) who takes his two sons on a fishing trip to reconnect. The trip soon turns awry when the boys stumble upon a massive drug running operation and are kidnapped by Dobbs, the son of the gang’s kingpin Kendric Ryker (Morgan Freeman) who runs the organization from prison. With no one but himself to retaliate and with elite combat skills they won’t see coming, an enraged Gunner wreaks havoc to rescue his two sons from Ryker’s gang. You don’t cross Gunner! The deals sealed this week include Daro Film Distribution for Germany and Eastern Europe, Premiere TV Distribution for Benelux, Spentzos Film for Greece, IIF for Italy, NOS Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, […]

DEEP WATER: Renny Harlin To Direct New Survival Thriller Launching New Film Pact For Cannes Sales

Lee B. Golden III

Bodies at Rest and The Misfits helmer Renny Harlin will direct new survival thriller Deep Water later this year. The film marks the launchpad of Simmons/Hamilton Productions (w/t), partnering KISS rock band member Gene Simmons and Arclight Films Chairman Gary Hamilton. Deep Water will tell the adventurous tale of an eclectic group of international passengers whose plane, en route from LA to Shanghai, is forced to make an emergency landing in shark infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage. Simmons and Hamilton are producing alongside Arclight’s Ying Ye and Rob Van Norden (Martin Campbell’s The Protégé). Arclight is launching worldwide sales at the Marché du Film, and “expects this action epic to create a feeding frenzy among the international buyers,” a statement reads. “I’ve had my […]

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THE KILLER’S GAME: J.J. Perry To Direct Novel Adaptation Starring Dave Bautista, Lionsgate Launching Cannes Sales

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been more than twenty years for any move to cinema with Jay Boninsaga’s 1997 novel, The Killer’s Game. The film finally has a home with Lionsgate launching international sales for the adaptation which now has stunt professional and second unit director J.J. Perry lined-up to direct his second feature since Netflix hit vampire actioner, Day Shift with Jamie Foxx. Filming begins this summer for Perry with Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise actor Dave Bautista starring as Joe Flood as a principled veteran assassin who learns he is dying. Thinking his days are numbered and refusing suicide as it goes against his Catholic principles, he stakes a multi-million dollar prize on his own life, only to realize two things: One – that he’s been misdiagnosed and is still in perfect health, and Two – his girlfriend is preganant. Now the two will have to race across Europe in order to […]

TAKEN FROM RIO BRAVO: Catch The Trailer For The New Western Sequel Starring Alexander Nevsky And Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and producer Alexander Nevsky’s latest turn in Western genre thrills has some trailer treatment making the rounds for Taken From Rio Bravo, the sequel to last year’s Shout! release, Gunfight At Rio Bravo. Both films feature Nevsky in the role of Russian-born John Basil Turchin, former U.S. Civil War officer-turned-gunslinger and lawman, with Joe Cornet directing and co-starring. The new and second chapter sees the return of the mysterious Russian gunslinger who teams up with Sheriff Vernon Kelly (Cornet) in pursuit of a gang of sadistic human traffickers known as The Posse, who have kidnapped five women. Cast also includes a mix of new and returning actors: action icons Cynthia Rothrock, Matthias Hues and Don “The Dragon” Wilson, and actors Irina Antonenko, Tatiana Neva, John Fallon, and Kerry Goodwin. Cornet directed from returning scribe Craig Hamann’s screenplay with Nevsky producing for his Hollywood Storm label, alongside exec producers Eric Brenner for ETA Films, Cornet for San […]

DIABLO: ‘Fist Of The Condor’ Director’s Chile-Set Actioner Reunites ‘John Wick 4’ Co-Stars Adkins And Zaror

Lee B. Golden III

How’s this for another ‘triple threat’ of sorts? Actors and action superstars Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror will reunite for Diablo, from director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza, which rolls cameras later this year in Chile. The film teams Adkins up for the first time with Espinoza who has collaborated with Zaror on several genre hitmakers, firstly collaborating on 2006’s Kiltro which launched the Chilean martial arts star to leading man stardom. Deadline’s Zac Ntim reports: Plot follows Kris Chaney (Adkins) who, after being released from prison, embarks on a perilous mission to fulfill an old promise but finds himself in danger when he kidnaps Elisa, the daughter of a powerful gangster. Her father, Vincent, puts out a call to the entire criminal underworld to bring her back alive. El Corvo (Zaror), a psychopathic killer, joins the hunt not for the money but for his own vendetta against Vincent’s family. Kris must […]

ASSASSINATION: New David Mamet Thriller Casts Up Ahead Of Cannes Market, Filming Starts This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

Cameras will roll on location in Vancouver this September for Assassination, a new thriller from director David Mamet (The Verdict, Wag The Dog, Redbelt). Arclight Films is launching sales for the pic at the Marché du Film which begins its annual event on Tuesday at Cannes. Penned by Mamet and co-writer Nicholas Celozzi (Kickboxer: Vengeance, Kickboxer Retaliation), the 1963-set thriller centers on events that take place during a crucial justice hearing against organized crime, when the head of the Chicago mob orders the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr., creating a deadly conspiracy while altering the fate of a nation. Academy Award-winner Al Pacino (The Irishman, The Devil’s Advocate), Academy Award-nominee Viggo Mortensen (Green Book, Eastern Promises), Academy Award-nominee and Golden Globe-winner John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty), Shia LaBeouf (Megaopolis, Honey Boy), Rebecca Pidgeon (Heist, Homicide) and singer/actress Courtney Love (The People vs. Larry Flynt) are […]

TIL DEATH DO US PART: Cinedigm Picks Up All North American Rights For Revenge Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

As reported by Deadline this week, Weaponized and The Outsider helmer Timothy Woodward Jr.’s new revenge thriller, Til Death Do Us Part, has been acquired by Cinedigm for acquired all North American rights ahead of its summer release. The film is written by Chad Law (Black Water) and Shane Dax Taylor (Isolation), and centers on a bride-to-be who, after running away on her wedding day, must fight for survival against her ex-fiancé’s seven deadly groomsmen. In the ultimate horror showdown, the groomsmen soon discover that she has no intention of going back to the life she left behind. Cam Gigandet (Twilight, Never Backdown), and Jason Patric (The Lost Boys, Speed 2: Cruise Control), star along with Natalie Burn (Black Adam, The Enforcer) and Orlando Jones (The Time Machine, Drumline), and co-stars Ser’Darius Blain (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), D.Y. Sao (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Neb Chupin (Mindcage, Acceleration) and […]

CONSUMED: XYZ Films Goes Wild For Butcher Brothers’ Next At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Film duo Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores, better known as The Butcher Brothers have directed their newest horror thriller to date with Consumed, with Devon Sawa (“Chucky” the Syfy/USA Network series, Final Destination) headlining. The film is directed by Altieri from a script by David Calbert, with Courtney Halverson (Unfriended, “True Detective”) and Mark Fariglietti (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, How to Get Away with Murder, “Madmen”) also starring. Consumed follows a married couple, Jay (Famiglietti) and Beth (Halverson), as they embark on a celebratory camping trip one year after Beth’s cancer remission, but things go horribly wrong when the couple find themselves trapped between a wild madman (Sawa) and a skin stealing monster. Flores and Texas Chainsaw Massacre vet Jeffrey Allard are producing the new thriller, with XYZ Films exec producing and launching sales at the upcoming Marché du Film in Cannes with a promo for buyers. Consumed […]

CLASSIFIED: Aaron Eckhart Takes Aim In First Look At Roel Reine’s Latest From Film Bridge Int’l At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Deadline is doling out the first visuals of Classified, the newest action thriller from Fistful Of Vengeance helmer Roel Reine. Film Bridge International will launch sales at the Cannes market. Operating alone in the field for more than 20 years, a CIA hitman uses the “Help Wanted” section of the newspapers to get his orders from the Agency. His long lost daughter (now a UK MI6 analyst) tracks him down to deliver shocking news: his CIA boss has been dead for years and the division long since shut down. Together, they set out to discover who’s orders he’s been executing. Classified also stars Abigail Breslin and Tim Roth, with a script by Bob DeRosa. Ellen Wander and Jordan Dykstra produced the pic for Film Bridge International. “It was an honor to work with this cast of talented actors. Aaron brought an engaging, emotional depth to his portrayal of an assassin […]

THE RIDGE: Billy Magnussen Debut Directs Survival Thriller Later This Year, Highland Launching Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Billy Magnussen (Game Night, Aladdin, No Time to Die, Bridge of Spies) will star in The Ridge, a new survival thriller rolling cameras in the U.S. later this year. Highland Film Group will launch international sales at the Marché du Film, with CAA representing domestic. Magnussen will also debut direct the pic from a script he storied with screenwriters Mike Anderson and John Clavier, who penned the pic with Will Lowell. He will play Grady, billed as a “true outdoorsman” and brother to the fiancé of sensitive city dweller, Dez, played by Lamorne Morris (FX’s “Fargo,” Hulu’s “Woke”). When Dez flies out to Wyoming along with his friends to meet the family, Dez is put to the test by Grady, setting the two men at odds with one another, and they engage in an explosive feud that causes their truck to crash and tumble from a ridge. Leaving the […]

100 YARDS: Fortissimo Signals World Sales For New Wuxia Action Drama Ahead Of Cannes Market

Lee B. Golden III

It’s only been a year since we last heard anything on Men Qian Bao Di, but if it feels longer, you’re not alone. Director Xu Haofeng has been an enigma for me as hampered as I am by the language barrier between me and spoken Chinese dialects, but I’m awful glad that other cogs in this vast machine of cinema marketeering are working hard to help proliferate things a bit. For this, we get 100 Yards, the latest from Xu and co-director Xu Junfeng with reports of its upcoming world sales launch at the upcoming Cannes market via Fortissimo Films, excluding North America and Southeast Asia. According to Michael Rosser at Screendaily, the film, which stars Jacky Heung (Chasing Dream) and Andy On (Ride On), has already scored presales with Splendid Film acquiring rights in Germany. As Rosser notes, 100 Yards takes place in “1920s Tianjin, northern China, and centres […]

ROSARIO: High-Concept Horror Casts Emeraude Torba For June Production Start, Highland Launching Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Emeraude Toubia (Freeform’s hit TV series “Shadowhunters,” Amazon’s “With Love”) will star in Rosario, a new high-concept horror film launching sales at the Cannes market out of Highland Film Group. Felipe Vargas will direct from a script by Alan Trezza (We Summon the Darkness). Toubia will star in the titular role of Rosario, a successful stockbroker on Wall Street, who is forced to spend the night with the body of her estranged grandmother Griselda who has abruptly died. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, a heavy snowstorm locks her inside the apartment, surrounded by unfriendly neighbors. As the night endlessly stretches on, twisted and menacing supernatural forces that have possessed Griselda’s corpse begin their assault on Rosario. Now the target of a deadly family curse that spans generations, in a desperate attempt to break the evil, Rosario must battle everything she knows about her past to save herself and […]

THE GUNS OF CHRISTMAS PAST: XYZ Films To Launch Cannes Sales Action Thriller, Liev Schreiber In Talks To Star

Lee B. Golden III

Liev Schreiber (Salt, Repo Men, Showtime series Ray Donovan) is in negotiations to lead The Guns Of Christmas Past, a new action thriller from director Xavier Gens (AMC/Sky Atlantic series Gangs Of London). XYZ Films is launching world sales for buyers at the upcoming Marché du Film in Cannes with cameras set to roll later in the year. Andrew Hilton wrote the script which is billed as a “genre mash-up described as A Christmas Carol meets John Wick”. Schrieber will play ‘Ebb’, a former hitman for the mob, brought out from hiding when his former best friend and partner (Jacob Marley) is killed. Ebb penetrates the compound of his enemy to exact revenge. The “Ghosts” of Past, Present and Future all arrive to thwart our hero’s plans. Navid McIlhargey and Erik Olsen are producing alongside XYZ Films, which is also financing with investment funding coming from IPR.VC. “I am excited […]

FLAVIA DE LUCE: Murder Mystery Family Adventure Finds Cast, Protagonist To Launch Sales At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Newcomer Isla Gie (“The Sandman,” “The Outlaws”) is set to play the titular 11-year-old Flavia De Luce for the family crime caper. She joins Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Black Panther, Sherlock), and director Bharat Nalluri (The Man Who Invented Christmas, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day), for a feature adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia De Luce Mystery,” which is the first book from Alan Bradley’s acclaimed “Flavia De Luce” mystery novel series that to date have sold over four million copies worldwide. Susan Coyne (“Daisy Jones and the Six,” The Man Who Invented Christmas, Mozart in the Jungle, “Anne of Green Gables”), adapted the bestseller with a script that follows the adventures of Flavia de Luce. Amateur Detective. Master Poisoner. Eleven Years Old. When she finds a dead body at her family’s decaying British manor house and […]