S. Craig Zahler’s new crime thriller, Dragged Across Concrete, is currently making the rounds in theaters. For anyone keen on his work these days and just recently learning of his latest collab efforts with Park Chan-wook’s now-titled The Brigands Of Rattlecreek, it’s a clear-cut sign that this ought to be just the kind of crowdpleaser at festivals and for niche moviegoers.
Director S. Craig Zahler is exactly the kind of director you’re looking for if you want a film that leaves a lasting impact. Last year’s head-stomping hit with Brawl In Cell Block 99 proved to be an entertainingly violent allegory on redemption from the Bone Tomahawk director and apart from any of the reviews stemming from its screening last year at Venice, his newest entry, Dragged Across Concrete, seemingly teases something that could almost be just as brutal and chilling, and just as soulful by way of its soundtrack.
In a partnership so good that it’s spawned a second film together, the first pairing of Bone Tomahawk helmer S. Craig Zahler and actor Vince Vaughn is on deck for premieres in Venice and Toronto this season for Brawl In Cell Block 99. The official trailer finally unveiled on Tuesday with more info available at the official website for the upcoming Venice Film Festival which kicks off tomorrow.
A former boxer named Bradley loses his job as an auto mechanic, and his troubled marriage is about to expire. At this crossroads in his life, he feels that he has no better option than to work for an old buddy as a drug courier. This vocation improves his situation until the terrible day that he finds himself in a gunfight between a group of police officers and his own ruthless allies. When the smoke clears, Bradley is badly hurt and thrown in prison, where his enemies force him to commit acts of violence that turn the place into a savage battleground.
The actor, currently filming Zahler’s next, Dragged Across Concrete, took to Deadline with a series of anecdotes in praise of the director who also reportedly wrote the film’s soundtrack as performed by The O’Jays along with Butch Tavares and newcomer Adi Armour.
“Zahler doesn’t write in a genre,” he says. “He takes all of these elements and cross-pollinates them and tells a unique story.” Bone Tomahawk, says Vaughn, “was unpredictable and very entertaining, so I was willing to go on this journey with him.”
He continues: “This director is so unique and so talented and such an interesting guy in that he’s very strong in a lot of different professions that complement each other.”
Also starring are Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Marc Blucas, Udo Kier, Fred Melamed, Mustafa Shakir, Dion Mucciacito, Thomas Guiry, Geno Segers, Devon Windsor and Clark Johnson for the film’s U.S. theatrical release on October 6 and subsequent VoD release on October 13.
Watch the brand new trailer below!
Bone Tomahawk helmer, novelist and acclaimed filmmaker S. Craig Zahler is currently filming his latest crime thriller, Dragged Across Concrete, starring Vince Vaughn and Mel Gibson. In the meantime, his newly completed actioner, Brawl In Cell Block 99 is well on its way with upcoming festival premieres in Venice and Toronto, as well as its forthcoming U.S. theatrical release on October 6, 2017 from RLJ Entertainment’s RLJE Films.
Brawl In Cell Block 99 teams Zahler with Vaughn who plays Bradley, a down-and-out boxer at a crossroads with no job and a marriage nearing its end. When he finds work as a drug courier for an old friend, his respite good luck goes south in the wake of an explosive gun battle with cops and his own cohorts, injuring him and landing him in prison where he’ll be forced to commit acts of violence turn the facility into a savage battleground.
Also starring are Jennifer Carpenter, Marc Blucas, Udo Kier, and Don Johnson with Assemble Media’s Jack Heller and Cinestate’s Dallas Sonnier, and IMG Films producing. XYZ Films are the executive producers and will handle international sales. Ward and Jess De Leo from RLJE negotiated the deal with Sonnier, Heller, and WME on behalf of the filmmakers.
“With the announced Venice, Toronto and Fantastic Fest premieres, the verdict is in. S. Craig Zahler has done it again,” said Mark Ward, RLJE Film’s chief acquisitions officer. “Considering the success of Bone Tomahawk and the stellar performance by Vince Vaughn, we couldn’t be more thrilled to reunite and bring BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 to audiences.”
Director S. Craig Zahler isn’t too far off from the forthcoming TIFF Midnight Madness premiere of his recently-completed prison actioner, Brawl In Cell Block 99. In the meantime, you can expect to catch that film’s star, next to actor Mel Gibson in the new police brutality pic, Dragged Across Concrete, which is also conveniently being filmed in Vancouver as we speak.
Zahler’s script is one with a pair of stories told with characters on opposite sides of the law; Gibson and Vaughn star on one half of that end in the respective roles of old guard policeman, Ridgeman, and volatile younger partner, Anthony, who find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arming tactics becomes the media’s special du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due.
Details remain pending on the crux of the story while the two will also be joined by Don Johnson (Vengeance: A Love Story) and Jennifer Carpenter (Limitless TV series), along with Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight, upcoming Triple Threat) and Tattiawna Jones (The Handmaid‘s Tale TV series), Tory Skittles and actress Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead TV series). Lionsgate is releasing the film in the U.S. after acquiring the rights at the top of the summer.
Unified Pictures’s Keith Kjarval is producing along with Cinestate’s Dallas Sonnier, Look to the Sky’s Sefton Fincham and Assemble Media’s Jack Heller. Executive producing are Fyzz Facility’s Wayne Godfrey and Robert Jones as are Fantasy 6 and Victory Square Labs’s own Shafin Diamond. (Variety)
Bloom has been on hand at the Marché du Film selling its slate, including Bone Tomahawk helmer S. Craig Zahler’s new crime thriller, Dragged Across Concrete. The film is reportedly slated to start production on July 17 in Vancouver and the word now is that Lionsgate has nabbed U.S. distribution rights with Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn starring.
What bad things will good men do for their families?
A stolid, old guard policeman, Ridgeman (Gibson) and his volatile younger partner, Anthony ( Vaughn), find themselves suspended when a video of them strong-arming a suspect becomes the media’s special du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due.
On the other side of the law, Henry Jones comes home from years in prison to find his mother and disabled brother living in squalor. The ex-convict needs a way to help and to this end, his childhood friend Biscuit introduces him to a ruthless crime boss whose ambitious plans put him and his pal in direct conflict with the two renegade officers.
In the hardboiled world of DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE, who lives, who dies, and who gets rich is a fate written in bullets.
Zahler will direct from his own script and with Unified Pictures’s Keith Kjarval, Cinestate’s Dallas Sonnier, Assemble Media’s Jack Heller and Look To The Sky’s Sefton Finchan producing. The Fyzz Facility’s Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones along with Fantasy 6 and Victory Square Labs’ Shafin Diamond will serve as executive producers.
via THR:
“We are delighted to be working again with Mel Gibson who helmed our double Oscar winnerHacksaw Ridge along with Vince Vaughn and the great production team behind this film,” said Lionsgate president of acquisitions and co-productions Jason Constantine. “It’s a double treat to have screenwriter S. Craig Zahler also direct what will be an intense film for audiences.”
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