Archlight Films is proudly sharing a first look at Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe’s new upcoming thriller, Poker Face. Crowe, who previously helmed the multi-award winner, The Water Diviner (2014), is directing from a script he co-wrote with Stephen M. Coates (John Doe: Vigilante).
Poker Face is set in the world of high stakes poker. Crowe stars as billionaire gambler Jake Foley who gives his best friends a night they’ll never forget, a chance to win more money than they’ve ever dreamed of. But to play, they’ll have to give up the one thing they’ve spent their lives doing everything to keep….their secrets. As the game unfolds, the friends will discover the real stakes they’re playing for, the biggest stakes of them all.
The film also stars Emmy nominee Liam Hemsworth, Elsa Pataky and Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. Principal photography has since wrapped its New South Wales shoot and is currently in post-production.
Arclight Films Chairman Gary Hamilton is producing alongside Ying Ye and Ryan Hamilton (First Reformed, Hotel Mumbai, Possessor) for Arclight along with Keith Rodger for Fear Of God Films, and actor/producer Addam Bramich, Catchlight Studios’ Jeanette Volturno (Whiplash, Get Out) and Jason Clark (Ted & Ted 2, Cosmos A Spacetime Odyssey), and Matt Williams (Twist, Killers Anonymous).
Arclight Films’ Brian Beckmann, Walter Josten, Joe Thomas, Mikael Borglund, Romilda De Luca and Alceon Entertainment Partners are exec producing, alongside Julia Stuart and Laura Grange from Sky.
Pic hails from Hamilton Entertainment production, and is financed by MEP Capital, Alceon Entertainment Partners, and Sky, alongside Australian funding entities through the NSW Government’s Screen NSW Made in NSW fund. Co-Producer Sky is releasing the film as a Sky Original in the UK and Germany.
Arclight Films is handling international sales rights at the Cannes market.
“With the undeniable talent of Russell in front of and behind the camera, and the brilliant supporting cast, we are delighted to be part of this incredible project. Poker Face is a high stakes thriller with the game everybody loves at its core – it’s an edge of your seat ride we know the worldwide buyers are responding to,” said Hamilton.
“Through our Made in NSW fund, the NSW Government is proud to back Poker Face, directed by and starring our very own Russell Crowe, which will be a winning hand for NSW’s powerhouse film industry, creating 250 jobs for cast and crew and bringing in over $17.7 million in production expenditure to the state.” said New South Wales Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin.
The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts said, “The decision to film Russell Crowe’s Poker Face in New South Wales is a great testament to Australia’s talented creatives, skilled crews, exceptional facilities and the Morrison Government’s competitive incentives for screen production, including the Producer Offset. This production will sustain vital jobs and businesses in the local film sector and help develop the next generation of screen industry professionals in NSW.”
Crowe is best known for his many acting honors, including three consecutive Best Actor Oscar noms for acclaimed productions like Michael Mann’s The Insider, Ridley Scott’s Best Picture winner Gladiator, and Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind. His recent credits partly include Unhinged, The Nice Guys and Universal Pictures’ The Mummy, and he will be seen next in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, and Netflix’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever, directed by Peter Farrelly. Crowe is also entering production soon in reunion with Hemsworth for Will Eubanks’s new thriller, Land Of Bad.
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.
Spanish actress, Elsa Pataky, who is best known for her role as Elena Neves in The Fast and the Furious franchise will be seen next as lead of Netflix’s high octane, action film, Interceptor, as well as in the role of Gabrielle in Sony’s modern-day reimagining of the classical opera, Carmen.
Poker Face also marks a reunion for Grammy nominated Wu-Tang Clan member RZA as they appeared together previously in American Gangster with Denzel Washington. He has also starred in Universal Pictures’ The Man with the Iron Fists, and co-starred in Jon M. Chu’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Jude Law and Forest Whitaker in Universal Studios’ Repo Men, Ilya Naishuller’s Nobody with Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd, and voice-performs in Universal Pictures’ animated Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP (GGSSC); Hemsworth by WME Entertainment; and Pataky and RZA by CAA.