Acquisitions and Release

ABOVE THE SHADOWS: Fantasy Romance MMA Drama Punches In A July 19 U.S. Release

Deadline unveiled a new look above at Above The Shadows on Monday featuring actress Olivia Thirlby and Alan Ritchson. Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures, a limited theatrical and VoD July 19 release in the U.S. is officially in tow for the new romance drama from writer/director Claudia Myers. SHADOW GIRL is a romantic tale about a young woman who has faded to the point of becoming invisible and must find her way back into the world. After more than a decade of solitude and making a living in the shadows as a celebrity photographer, Holly meets the one man who can see her, Shane Blackwell, a disgraced MMA fighter working as a bouncer. Holly discovers that it was one of her tabloid photographs that caused his downfall, she resolves to help him regain his former championship status. With Shane, Holly awakens to love but also to the reality that she bears […]

FIRST LOVE Adds Takashi Miike’s Latest World Premiere Action Thriller To Cannes’ Directors Fortnight Line-Up

Lee B. Golden III

Want some more Miike for your moviegoing? Then take a gander at HanWay Films’ latest nab of the auteur’s new action thriller, First Love. The UK-based international sales/distro banner acquired rights to the Japan/UK co-prod which reteams Miike with Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas’ Recorded Picture Company for a fourth time following Hara-kiri: Death Of A Samurai, 13 Assassins, and Blade Of The Immortal. Deadline‘s Andreas Wiseman notes the film’s description as cited by the producers as follows: Set over one night in Tokyo, the film will follow Leo, a young boxer down on his luck as he meets his ‘first love’ Monica, a call girl and an addict but still an innocent. Little does Leo know, Monica is unwittingly caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme, and the two are pursued through the night by a corrupt cop, a yakuza, his nemesis, and a female assassin sent by the Chinese Triads. […]

HIGH ON THE HOG: Don’t Miss The Official Trailer For Sid Haig’s New Stoner Horror Romp

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been a little over four years since celebrated character actor and horror icon Robert Z’dar passed away, but he’s leaving behind at least another offering for horror fans with Indican Pictures’ latest Berlin acquisition, High On The Hog, from director Tony Wash. Part comedy and part horror, High on the Hog takes place on a remote farm. Here, everything is grown, including the green herb. But, local government officials need a bust and they have targeted Big Daddy’s farm for their hit. Big Daddy is ready for the federales, with his arsenal of weapons and take-no-prisoners farmhands. And, just before the big fight, they have to pack that pipe tight! Z’dar’s final on-screen bow will hit theaters in select cities on April 19, joining him with a cast led by actor/producer Sid Haig (3 From Hell) and co-star Joe Estevez (Public Enemy), and with actresses Fiona Domenica and Brenda […]

MARIA: Netflix Snags Cristine Reyes Action Thriller For May 17 Release

Lee B. Golden III

Try looking for writer/directing Pedring Lopez’s 2016 action horror, Nilalang, anywhere stateside and if you’re lucky, you’ll find it under some innocuous, generic title thanks to whatever schmuck snagged it for a legit U.S. release. It’s what’s always irked me – the dismissive, flippant way distributors handle Asian titles. That habit seems to haven’t dissipated, and thankfully, Netflix took notice in the wake of Lopez’s most recent feature outing, Maria, which hit theaters late last month to promising audience and critical responses. Set to stream worldwide on May 17, actress Cristine Reyes stars as the former member of a criminal cartel forced out of hiding to dispense vengeance when her new lease on life is violently interrupted by the very crime family that nearly had her executed. The project marks Reyes’ first action role from a script by Lopez and co-writer Yz Carbonel, and with Sonny Sison (Nilalang, BuyBust), overseeing […]

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD: Shinichiro Ueda’s Surprise Horror Comedy Hit Lands On Shudder For U.S., Australia And New Zealand!

Lee B. Golden III

If you plan on getting your hands on AMC’s Shudder app anytime soon and have a devout love for J-horror, just know that’s where you’ll be able to find Shinichiro Ueda’s One Cut Of The Dead with the horror streamer acquiring rights in the U.S.. Rights were also snagged in Australia and New Zealand according to Variety citing the deal between Shudder, and Adam Torel who negotiated the terms representing Koji Ichihashi whose Tokyo-based film school, Enbu Seminar, backed the horror comedy. ONE CUT OF THE DEAD opens in a run-down, abandoned warehouse where a film crew are making a zombie film…Yet, this is no ordinary warehouse. It’s been said that it’s the site of where military experiments took place…Out of nowhere, real zombies arrive and terrorize the crew!This may sound like a the plot of a clichéd zombie film, but One Cut of the Dead is something completely different! […]

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IRON SKY: THE COMING RACE Lands UK Cinemas And Combo Pack Releases Beginning April 24!

Lee B. Golden III

Writer/director Timo Vuorensola is on a longstanding mission to create one of the most epic space sagas ever seen on any big screen within reach. The Iron Sky helmer has proudly continued the tradition since then with screenings of his latest, Iron Sky: The Coming Race ahead of a third installment that remains forthcoming. Overseas releases are now inbound which now leaves UK-based 101 Films in charge of distribution for residents. Thus, Iron Sky: The Coming Race now has a theatrical date set for April 24 before releasing on May 6 via Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital, plus a Blu-Ray boxset containing both the first and second films. Pre-orders are now available by clicking here! Twenty years after the events of Iron Sky, the former Nazi Moonbase has become the last refuge of mankind. Earth was devastated by a nuclear war but buried deep under the wasteland lies a power that […]

AVENGEMENT: Samuel Goldwyn Picks Up Scott Adkins Action Thriller For May Theatrical/VOD Release

Lee B. Golden III

As of Wednesday, 2019 is officially set to be a banner year for director Jesse V. Johnson whose next film, Avengement, will now open in select theaters and VOD on May 24 in the U.S. from Samuel Goldwyn Films. The film marks the latest reunion for Johnson with martial arts star Scott Adkins in their sixth shared credit together following recent successes like Savage Dog, Accident Man, The Debt Collector and the upcoming release of Triple Threat from Well Go USA. While released on furlough from prison, a lowly criminal evades his guards and returns to his old haunts to take revenge on the people that made him a cold-hearted killer. It’s an epic, bloody battle to search for the soul he lost years ago on the streets of an unforgiving city. Johnson is keeping properly busy these days promoting Triple Threat as it approaches its one-night theatrical rollout on […]

THE OLD GUARD: Gina Prince Bythewood’s Image Comics Adaptation Lands At Netflix, Casts Charlize Theron And KiKi Layne

Lee B. Golden III

Gina Prince-Bythewood may not be on deck immediately with the Black Cat/Silver Sable pairing at Sony, but the Love & Basketball and Beyond The Lights helmer is still sticking to her interest in comic book lore with an adaptation of 2017 Image Comics publication, The Old Guard. For this, Netflix has since acquired the rights for the project that now stars Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde) and KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk, Native Son). Leandro Fernández illustrated the original comic, authored by Greg Rucka who is now penning the script for the feature. Based on the comic book series created by author Greg Rucka and illustrator Leandro Fernández, The Old Guard tells the story of a small covert group of immortal mercenaries who must fight to keep their team together when they discover the existence of a new immortal and their extraordinary abilities are exposed. […]

Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY Finds Hunting Ground In The UK

Lee B. Golden III

One of the most thrilling features coming our way comes from the creative auspices of director Jimmy Henderson (Jailbreak) following last year’s festival outing, The Prey, Cambodia’s first $1 million dollar-budgeted action feature. The film premiered at Busan and at BFI in London and is currently in the market for buyers by way of internatonal sales agent, Raven Banner. Among the lot via Deadline, we now have fledgling distro banner Lightbulb Film Distribution stepping up to the plate and picking up for its UK-bound release with a date now pending as of last week at EFM in Berlin. Actor and martial artist Gu Shang Wei, stars in the film as an undercover cop swept away amidst a botched raid, forcibly incarcerated and left to fight for his survival among prisoners hunted for sport in a maniacal warden’s deadly game for rich, affluent huntsmen. Also starring are Vithaya Pansringarm and actress […]

21 YEARS: QUENTIN TARANTINO Is Back Home At Wood Entertainment

Lee B. Golden III

Wood Entertainment’s Tara Wood (21 Years: Richard Linklater) has successfully reclaimed the rights back to the authorized Quentin Tarantino documentary feature, 21 Years: Quentin Tarantino. The film, announced in 2015 was previously housed at The Weinstein Company in 2016. In 2017, a long legal battle ensued over the documentary just as the production company underwent an onslaught of sex crime allegations against Harvey Weinstein. “TWC should respectfully release us from our deal,” Wood said in a statement at the time, “To allow the project to be handled with the care and consideration it, Mr. Tarantino, and all the participants deserve.” The film’s return to the hands of Wood Entertainment signals the search for a hopeful distributor is now in tow with post-production underway. Touted as a celebration of Tarantino’s works-to-date, 21 Years: Quentin Tarantino looks at the passion behind the worldwide box office dominator. The lightening rod that is Tarantino’s […]

DAUGHTER OF THE WOLF: Gina Carano Action Thriller Gets A May 10 U.S. Release

Lee B. Golden III

Director David Hackl’s latest pic is well on the way after selling to a raft of territories at this year’s EFM in Berlin. The Gina Carano and Richard Dreyfuss-led Daughter Of The Wolf will have its day in North America on May 10 in theaters and VOD. Clair McKenna, an ex-military specialist, comes home to the recent news of her fathers passing only to find herself at odds with her defiant 13-year-old son, CHARLIE. With the news that Clair has inherited a large sum of money from her fathers business Charlie is kidnaped for a ransom. Instead of seeking help Clair takes one of the kidnappers, Larsen, as a hostage and forces him to lead her on a perilous journey to rescue her son from the mysterious figure only know as the Father. The trek takes Clair deep in the mountains of the Yukon, near the US – Canadian border […]

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VALENTINE: Shout! Falls In Love With Indonesian Superhero Adaptation Starring Estelle Linden

Lee B. Golden III

A glimpse at some of the EFM buzz titles published this week at Screendaily are aloft with some excting offerings. Indonesian superhero thriller, Valentine is no exception as obscure as the film has been since having its release held back for more than a year prior to its short-lived theatrical run in November of 2017. Whatever the case may be now, the film at least gained a footing in the market scene when UK international sales outfit, Carnaby, acquired the rights last May. That, in turn, now brings news of the Ubay Fox/Agus Pesto-directed actioner’s North American landing at Shout! Studios, so expect this one to hit the blu-ray internets in due time. The beautiful city of Batavia has been infested with robbery and violence. When ‘Srimaya’, a café waitress meets a film director and his friend, they take her on a dangerous adventure full of thrilling action as a […]

Chen Kaige’s LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT Is Now Playing In U.S. Theaters

Lee B. Golden III

Following its release in North America last Friday, moviegoers have just a few days left to ring in the Year of the Pig as of today, Tuesday, February 5, with a select theatrical release from myCinema of Chen Kaige’s fantasy adventure, Legend Of The Demon Cat. Celebrated Palme d’Or winning filmmaker Chen Kaige, directs the sweeping historical drama, based on the novel, Gensoshin Kukai, by best-selling Japanese fantasy writer Yumemakura Baku. LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT is set over a thousand years ago, during the imperial Tang Dynasty, considered by scholars to be a cosmopolitan period of exceptional cultural and literary flowering. A Chinese poet, Bai Letian (Xuan Huang) and a Japanese monk, Kukai (Shōta Sometani) join forces to investigate the case of a demonic cat who has possessed a general’s wife (Kitty Zhang Yuqi) and wreaked havoc on the imperial court. The investigation takes some gruesome and unexpected twists, […]

SAS: RED NOTICE: UK Actioner Lands At Altitude, Releases In UK And Ireland In 2020

Lee B. Golden III

Altitude is set to rep UK action thriller, SAS: Red Notice. The title will hit the floor at EFM starting this week as Sky Cinema revs up plans to release the film in the UK and Ireland in 2020. SAS: Red Notice is directed by Magnus Martens, and is based on UK writer Andy McNab 2012 novel – the first of a trilogy of novels centered on SAS operative, Tom Buckingham. Starring are Sam Heughan (Outlander) and Ruby Rose (John Wick: Chapter 2, upcoming CW series Batwoman), and with a cast that lists Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hopper, Owain Yeoman, Noel Clarke, Ray Panthaki, Jing Lusi, Douglas Reith, Richard McCabe, and Anne Reid. Penned by Laurence Malkin and Chad Thumann, the new action thriller finds Buckingham as one of hundreds of passengers aboard the Eurostar train deep beneath the English Channel. Injured and trapped with his pregnant […]

THE PREY Makes A Stand In New Key Sales Art From Raven Banner

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jimmy Henderson’s new actioner, The Prey, is now on par for the course as we enter a new year of festivals and market updates. As such, the production has paired up with Toronto-based Raven Banner for international sales ahead of EFM which launches on February 7 in Berlin. Actor and martial artist Gu Shang Wei makes his return to the screen since handing out a pretty fair performance in the 2016 action drama, Bloody Destiny. Undoubtedly and as of the film’s premieres at BFI in the UK and at Busan in South Korea late last year, this ought to be an ample segue for him onto the world stage. My review will be up this week first thing. In the meantime, Raven Banner’s acquisition as of last week, as reported by Screen Daily, now signals new poster art to help make its case. Check it out below! RAVEN BANNER […]

Wakaliwood To Take The U.S. By Storm With WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX? And BAD BLACK On Blu-Ray In May!

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re a film buff who has taken heed to the rise of Wakaliwood through the lasting affects of viral video, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name IGG – or Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey in full. There’s also a good chance you’ve spotted your fair share of some of the most unbelievably gonzo action movie trailer-age straight from this humble little film industry in Uganda that’s been slowly growing its profile. Some of its residental talents are pretty damn good at screenfighting and showcasing their craft accordingly. Say what you will about the crap dialogue and VFX as per the result of $200 film productions but if there’s one thing you can’t deny about this particular collective is that they are driven! Moreover, as pertinent as timing is, show this to a certain film festival crowd now and guaranteed folks will fondly leave mindblown and in stitches. If […]

Viz, CineLife Signal HUNTER X HUNTER: THE LAST MISSION With An Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

I may get some flack for not being the most knowledgeable anime fan, but that didn’t stop me from catching up big time in 2016. Hunter X Hunter was a huge, surprise stop for me that year in getting familar with one of the most signature, harrowing adventures ever told in anime history, though unfamiliar as I was with the animated side stories and features released in 2013. Thus, we have the latest campaign now underway from Viz Media with the planned theatrical run for Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission, following an announcement last November. Kawaguchi Keiichiro took to the helm for the feature animated adventure that now brings back our quartet of heroic hunters, Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio for an otherwise new adventure finally arriving stateside and on the big screen on January 30. Tickets are now on sale courtesy of CineLife Entertainment, so hit ’em up […]

ONE NIGHT ONLY: Aaron Kwok And Yang Zishan Star In The Acclaimed Crime Drama Releasing In The U.S. On January 31

Lee B. Golden III

Multi-nominated actor-turned-director Matt Wu became a favorite in 2014 at Busan with his award-winning short, Stairway. He then followed suit with 2016 feature debut, One Night Only, which sparked rounds of critical acclaim upon its summer release. The film’s respective Best Picture and Best Production Design nominations at Shanghai and Taipei, and at Taiwan are considerable plusses next to its buzz from many critics, including Asian Film Strike whose L.P. Hugo deems it as “An assured, deftly-written and superbly-shot directing debut…carried by Aaron Kwok at his best.” New York-based Cheng Cheng Films picked it up that year for distribution at up to 20 locations for its own theatrical run stateside, and is now slating a January 31 release on VoD. Leading the cast are Aaron Kwok and Yang Zishan from a script by Peng Ren, and with Lei Hao, Andy On, Jie Gao and Tiantian Fan also starring. Having lost […]

Fortune Star, Janus Signal Limited Re-Release Of Jackie Chan Classics POLICE STORY And POLICE STORY 2

Lee B. Golden III

Ready to re-live classic Jackie Chan on the big screen? Word from Polygon brings news that Janus Films, in partnership with Fortune Star Media, is offering limited releases in select cities for Police Story (1985) and Police Story 2 (1988). It kind of makes you wish this campaign was a bit more commercialized and wider in its exhibitor rollout but at least these are getting some new life to ring in the new year. POLICE STORY: The jaw-dropping set pieces fly fast and furious in Jackie Chan’s breathtakingly inventive martial-arts comedy, a smash hit that made him a worldwide icon of daredevil action spectacle. The director/star/one-man stunt machine plays Ka-Kui, a Hong Kong police inspector who goes rogue to bring down a drug kingpin and protect the case’s star witness (Chinese cinema legend Brigitte Lin) from retribution. Packed wall-to-wall with charmingly goofball slapstick and astoundingly acrobatic fight choreography—including an epic […]

MVD To Unleash DOUBLE DRAGON On Blu-Ray/DVD In January

Lee B. Golden III

I’m still sort of pining for the day someone snags the movie rights to classic Technōs Japan video game property, Double Dragon; The 1994 live-action film adaptation wasn’t so hot, save for at least one explosive moment on set that led to hundreds of calls from panicked Northeast Ohioans about the set. For this, the film still remains a cherished relic for a targeted film niche, and niche distributor MVD Entertainment Group is more than willing to oblige with a first time-ever Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Edition. MVD made the announcement earlier last month and pre-orders are currently up-and-running at this link ahead of its January 22 release. From director James Yukich (Shawn Mendes: Live at the Greek Theatre), producers Don Murphy (Transformers, Natural Born Killers), Jane Hamsher (From Hell) and Alan Schechter (Showdown), with a screenplay written by Michael Davis (Shoot ‘Em Up) and Emmy® Award Winner Peter Gould (Better Call […]