Culture 4 min read By Morgan Griffin
Olga Kurylenko und Alex Pettyfer spielen im Krimithriller Breakwater
Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer will star in the crime thriller Breakwater, directed by Luc Walpoth, with WestEnd Films handling world sales and production set to begin in April.
Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer are set to star in the crime thriller Breakwater, and WestEnd Films has taken on the project for worldwide sales. The film is directed by Luc Walpoth, whose previous credits include In Tandem and Dead Money, and production is scheduled to begin in April.
Kurylenko brings a long screen résumé to the project. She has appeared in Quantum of Solace, Oblivion and Black Widow, and her casting positions the film for audiences familiar with large-scale studio work as well as independent genre cinema. Pettyfer's credits include Magic Mike, The Butler and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a mix of ensemble drama, comedy and wartime action that reflects his range across formats. Together the two actors bring recognizable names to a project that will rely on international buyers.
WestEnd Films' involvement means the company will oversee how Breakwater is presented to distributors and territorial buyers before its release. Sales boarding of this kind typically precedes the search for distribution deals across markets, and it gives a film a commercial framework before cameras roll. The Variety report describes the arrangement as an exclusive, placing the announcement among the first public details of the production.
The timing coincides with a busy stretch for independent sales companies ahead of the American Film Market. Catalytic Films, led by Milena Rimassa, is launching as an independent production, financing and sales company with a four-feature slate, including Something's In There, a supernatural horror thriller written and directed by Joel Harber and starring James Franco. The film is one of several projects its founder plans to bring to international buyers at the market.
Other thrillers in the same market cycle show how much of the independent pipeline relies on the genre. Lucky Number released a first image of Hiam Abbass, the Succession star, from Daughter of Eden, a London-set psychological thriller in which she plays a woman suspected of having connections with the Saddam Hussein regime in a past life. The Paris-based sales company is gearing up for an AFM launch for the debut feature. Bleecker Street, meanwhile, released the first trailer for The Liberation on Monday, the dramatic thriller written and directed by Guy Nattiv, which stars Carrie Coon as Rita, a 1980s New Yorker. Coon's performance has been drawing award-season buzz since the film's world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.
Taken together, the announcements show how crime, horror and psychological thrillers continue to anchor the independent film market, because those genres travel well internationally and can be sold on the strength of a recognizable cast. Breakwater joins that pipeline with two actors whose names carry recognition across markets, and its April start date will determine when buyers see footage. Details on the film's plot, budget and filming locations have not yet been announced.
Source: variety.com
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