Adventure thriller tentatively titled Project Legion is next in line from Nthibah Pictures, the U.S./South Africa-based independent film studio behind Moritz Mohr’s Boy Kills World. The film marks the first fully-funded and produced feature in a new deal announced on Tuesday by Nthibah Chairman Wayne Fitzjohn, whose Talent10 Holdings affirmed a $50 million investment to expand Nthibah’s content slate.
Billed as the first in a franchise, Project Legion is a modern-day adventure centering on the unlikely rise of Zach, a dreamer turned prize-fighter forced to navigate his realities in more realms than he ever imagined. Fitzjohn, who is also founder and CEO of Talent10, is penning the script alongside award-winning South African filmmaker Jozua Malherbe (BBC Studio’s “Devil’s Peak”) who will also direct.
The project also reunites the pair with Simon Swart (I Can Only Imagine, Boy Kills World) following director Donovan Marsh’s 2021 Netflix mystery thriller, I Am All Girls.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to bring this award winning creative force together again to incept the first film within a large franchise that has been in development for years,” said Fitzjohn. “With Jozua at the helm, there’s no one I trust more to introduce Project Legion to audiences worldwide.”
“To have the backing of Nthibah Pictures, and more specifically Wayne and Simon, is a dream come true. The standard of films that Nthibah has produced over the last five years is astonishing, and what we plan to do in the future is going to be epic,” added Malherbe. “Project Legion will entertain, thrill and surprise audiences – I can’t wait to unveil it to the world!”
Malherbe directed the BBC Studios hit television series “Devils Peak,” and Netflix original series “Justice Served”. He was also director and DP on the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) nominated series, “Slot,” and directed and DP’d the SAFTA award-winning feature film, Griekwastad, which garnered the award for Best Achievement in Directing and Best Feature Film. He also produced Marsh’s I Am All Girls, which garnered had 28 million completed views within its first four weeks of launch, at one point ranking among the world’s Top 10 films on Netflix. The film took home the 2022 SAFTA awards for Best Actress and Best Feature Film.
Through Nthibah, Fitzjohn and Swart produced and financed Mohr’s Boy Kills World, starring Bill Skarsgård (It, John Wick: Chapter 4), Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day, Valley Girl), Michelle Dockery, (“Downton Abbey” Godless), Brett Gelman (“Fleabag,” “Stranger Things”), Andrew Koji (“Warrior,” Bullet Train), Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two, Shadowhunters), Sharlto Copley (District 9, Elysium), Yayan Ruhian (John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Star War Episode VII – The Force Awakens), Famke Janssen, (X-Men, “Nip/Tuck”), and H. Jon Benjamin (“Archer,” “Bob’s Burgers”) as the voice of Boy. Produced in partnership with Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man) of Raimi Productions and Roy Lee (It, The Departed) of Vertigo Entertainment, the film premiered at the 48th Toronto Film Festival, and will open in theaters via Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions on April 26. Nthibah is also shepherding the film’s concurrent fighting game, “Super Dragon Force 3” to coincide with the film’s launch.
