British action thriller Shelter is in development from filmmaker Scott Vickers. The film is set to roll cameras in July and will star former British special forces operator, actor and TV personality, Ant Middleton.
Vickers will direct Shelter from his own script which follows Middleton as hitman Rob Shaw, who travels to a remote location after a distress call from his ex-wife. Upon arrival, he is met by his ex-wife and their two young daughters, as well as her new husband, and also Shaw’s estranged father Jim, who happens to be the ex-director of the Ministry of Defence.
The rest of the synopsis reads as follows: “Jim explains that a global nuclear event is imminent and invites Rob to join them in a bunker beneath the house. Rob rejects the invitation and attempts to leave just as the bombs begin to fall – he has no place or purpose in this new reality. However, when an anarchic gang of ex-soldiers take control of the bunker, his skills and dangerous mindset become the very thing the family needs.”
Vickers is joined by a production team at MQP (Middleton Quinn Productions), which includes Kent Ambassador Mark Quinn and Tiernan Hanby (Summit Fever, The Courier, Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins) who are producing alongside Middleton.
“Normally I’m doing the screaming and shouting but stepping into the acting world the tables have well and truly turned. With an awesome team at my side, there really are no excuses not to make ripples through the industry,” said Middleton.
“Bringing Ant Middleton in as the lead role in this project was huge. Film lovers talk a lot about the need for authenticity and escapism in film, well, I can tell you that all the action sequences you’ll see Ant doing on screen in Shelter he has done in reality. Ant also provided guidance and insights for the final draft of the script. One conversation about a particular knife scene stands out. Ant went into great detail about it and once he’d finished a very detailed commentary everyone around the table just sat in silence for a while,” added Vickers.
Middleton’s past experience in the UK elite forces partly includes the Marines, 9 Parachute Squadron and Special Boat Service. Aside from his role on “SAS: Who Dares Wins,” he also leads “SAS Australia.” His credits also include ‘Mutiny’, a show that re-enacted Captain William Bligh’s famous ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’, to the survivalist programme Escape, centred on placing skilled engineers in precarious situations. In 2019 he conquered Mount Everest in the show “Extreme Everest”.
Shelter will be Vickers’ second feature film following his award-winning 2018 thriller, Matriarch. In addition to his film and TV work behind the lens, as actor, he was mentored by Paul Gregory, a protégé of Sir Laurence Olivier, and shares four years experience as recurring in BBC’s “River City,” as well as three years performing in the West End production of Chicago. Vickers is a Green Card recipient for travels to the U.S. but currently resides in Cheshire, and is repped by 3Arts Entertainment.