LAND OF BAD: Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth Cast For September Action Thriller Shoot From ‘Underwater’ Director
Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) and Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games, Independence Day: Resurgence) are set to star in the new action thriller film Land of Bad, it was announced on Friday. Will Eubank (Underwater, The Signal) will direct from a script he wrote with David Frigerio.
Land of Bad centers on Reaper (Crowe), an Air Force drone pilot supporting a Delta Force special ops mission in the South Philippines. After the mission goes terribly wrong, he has 48 hours to remedy what has devolved into a wild rescue operation. The Tier One team on the field is joined on the battlefield by Kinney (Hemsworth), a green Air Force JTAC who is thrust into the middle of a high-stakes extraction. But the ground mission suddenly turns upside down and becomes a full-scale battle when the team is discovered by the enemy. With no weapons and no communication other than the drone above, Reaper becomes the young operator’s only ticket out.
Highland Film Group is co-financing the pic and handling international sales rights and will launch sales at the upcoming Marché du Film. The company is also producing alongside Eubank, Broken Open Pictures’ David Frigerio (Crypto, The Signal), Volition Media Partners’ Adam Beasley and Michael Jefferson (One True Loves), and R.U. Robot. John Stalberg and Cindy Bru are exec producing.
“Working with such talented actors as Russell and Liam is a dream come true. They are both incredible performers who will showcase the powerful sense of brotherhood between the two lead characters,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Will and David have crafted a tense and compelling story full of suspense and intrigue. With Will at the helm, we are thrilled to be working with this uniquely talented filmmaker,” added Highland COO Delphine Perrier.
“I am thrilled to work with Russell and Liam and couldn’t be more grateful to this whole team in helping bring this project to life,” commented director Will Eubank.
“I couldn’t be more stoked to be making this timely film especially with my good friend, Will Eubank piloting the ship. I am beyond excited to watch Russell and Liam bring these characters to life. Buckle up!” noted writer/producer David Frigerio.
Crowe is an Academy Award winner who has starred in some of the most successful and iconic films of the last decades, and has achieved many acting honors, including three consecutive Best Actor Oscar nominations for his work in the acclaimed drama The Insider; the Best Picture winner Gladiator, for which he took home the Oscar; and Best Picture winner A Beautiful Mind. Other recent credits include road thriller Unhinged, crime thriller The Nice Guys and Universal Pictures’ The Mummy. Crowe, who also directed The Water Diviner, is currently in post-production on his second directorial film, Poker Face, a crime-thriller in which he also stars alongside Hemsworth, and will next be seen in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, and Netflix’s Peter Farrelly-directed The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
Hemsworth has established himself as a viable leading man with a resume that balances both starring roles in big budget studio films and deft, character-driven independent movies. He’s featured in The Hunger Games film tetralogy, The Expendables 2 and Independence Day: Resurgence, as well as in Harrison Ford/Gary Oldman in the high stakes thriller Paranoia, with Dwayne Johnson and Emma Roberts in Empire State, alongside Billy Bob Thornton and John Malkovich in the crime thriller Cut Bank, opposite Kate Winslet in the comedy-drama The Dressmaker, with Woody Harrelson in the western revenge thriller The Duel, opposite Rebel Wilson in the romantic-comedy Isn’t It Romantic and opposite Vince Vaugn in the drama feature Arkansas. He most recently earned an Emmy nomination as an executive producer of “The Most Dangerous Game”, co-starring Christoph Waltz.
Hemsworth is currently shooting Netflix’s romantic feature Lonely Planet, written and directed by Academy award nominated Susannah Grant and co-staring Laura Dern.
Eubank most recently directed Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin for Paramount Pictures. His first feature film, Love, was commissioned by the alternative rock band, Angels & Airwaves, and became a breakout success, playing at numerous film festivals and ultimately winning the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s “Best of the Fest.” His second feature, The Signal, which he co-wrote and stars Laurence Fishburne, Olivia Cooke, Brenton Thwaites and Beau Knapp, premiered to great acclaim at Sundance 2014 prior to its Focus Features release.
Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP (GGSSC); Hemsworth is repped by WME; Eubank is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole.
Highland Film Group’s current sales slate of films also includes Daniel Casey’s Wardriver starring Dane DeHaan and Sophie Turner; Rusty Cundieff’s 57 Seconds starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson; horror thriller Felix starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and 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.
Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.
You must log in to post a comment.