Production is underway in South Africa with Josh Duhamel (Shotgun Wedding), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Warner Bros.’ It franchise), and Rick Hoffman (USA Network’s “Suits”) set to star in action comedy, London Calling. The film additionally reunites Duhamel with Bandit helmer Allan Ungar who is reuniting with Duhamel, with a script by Oscar-nominated Omer Levin Menekse and Quinn Wolfe.
London Calling will also join the trio with Aidan Gillen (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”) who will play the city’s biggest mob boss whose relative is mistakenly killed by mediocre hitman Tommy Ward (Duhamel). Per the synopsis, Ward goes on the run and is stuck in L.A. To get back to his son on the other side of the pond, Tommy makes a deal with his new employer (Hoffman): teach his socially awkward teenage son Julian (Taylor) to be a man, in exchange for safe passage. Tommy is now forced to drag Julian, afraid of his own shadow, along on his latest contract killing of a renowned assassin. What starts off as a simple ride-along descends into utter chaos as this down-on-his-luck contract killer and his insecure protégé become each other’s lifelines.
Ungar will also produce along with Delon Bakker and Kyle Ambrose (Lionsgate’s Rogue), Ryan Winterstern and Nathan Klingher (upcoming Land of Bad and Blood for Dust), Mark Fasano (American Ultra, upcoming Sleeping Dogs starring Russell Crowe), Apur Parikh (upcoming The Surfer) and Julia Sandberg Hansson. Duhamel is exec producing next to Taylor, Ford Corbett, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Henry Winterstern, Josh Harris, Jatin Desai, Greg Friedman, Tracy Taylor and Kelli Kaye.
“We are thrilled to work once again with the talented team of Allan Ungar and Josh Duhamel – Josh has great comedic timing and will brilliantly capture the improbable connection between the down-on-his luck hitman and the insecure teen that he is tasked to mentor. He leads our wonderful ensemble cast which features Jeremy Ray Taylor, Rick Hoffman and Aidan Gillen,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Allan Ungar is the ideal director to bring this action-packed comedy to life – we are delighted to team up with him again after the recent success of Bandit. London Calling is loaded with global appeal and we cannot wait to deliver this transatlantic project to our buyers,” added Highland COO Delphine Perrier.
Duhamel is repped by Creative Artists Agency; Taylor is repped by Paradigm; Gillen is repped by Independent Talent Group, Greene Talent and Coronel Group; Hoffman is repped by Impression Entertainment and A3 Artists Agency; Ungar is repped by Verve, World Builder, and Marios Rush.
Highland Film Group is handling international rights on London Calling. The company’s current sales slate further includes the aforementioned Sleeping Dogs and Blood For Dust, as well as Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope, Simon West’s action comedy Old Guy, sci-fi thriller The Astronaut starring Kate Mara and Laurence Fishburne, Dimitri Logothetis’ actioner Gunner, Audrey Cummings’ western action film Place of Bones, and survival thriller The Ridge.