Watch the first clip from director Renny Harlin’s THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 starring Madelaine Petsch that debuted at New York Comic Con.
From master director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2, The Exorcist: The Beginning) comes a new trilogy of terror. In Chapter I, Madelaine Petsch (TV’s “Riverdale”) stars as a young woman starting a new life with her fiancé. Suddenly, during a road trip stop in a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason. What begins as a fight to stay alive becomes one woman’s journey of courage and cunning in this horror series bridging three compelling films. Written by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland.
Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers. Photo Credit: John ArmourFroy Gutierrez as “Ryan” and Madelaine Petsch as “Maya” in THE STRANGERS Trilogy, a Lionsgate release. Photo Credit: John Armour for Lionsgate
Screen Media announced today the acquisition of all North American rights to the action film THE BRICKLAYER.
Directed by Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2) and written by Matt Johnson (Into The Blue) and Hanna Weg (Septembers of Shiraz) based on a novel by Noah Boyd, the film stars Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Olympus Has Fallen, Thank You for Smoking), Nina Dobrev (xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Let’s Be Cops), Clifton Collins Jr. (“Westworld,” Jockey) Tim Blake Nelson (Nightmare Alley, Naked Singularity), and Ilfenesh Hadera (Baywatch).
Screen Media is planning a day-and-date theatrical and on demand release summer 2023.
In THE BRICKLAYER. someone is blackmailing the CIA – assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the agency is responsible. As the world begins to unite against the US, the CIA must lure its most brilliant – and rebellious – operative out of retirement, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.
“The dynamic team of iconic director Renny Harlin and charismatic lead Aaron Eckhart is unmatched,” said Screen Media in a statement. “We’re grateful and excited to make this intense action thriller our second film in our Millennium partnership.”
“Screen Media has been an incredible releasing partner having done a great job steering Till Death and The Outpost to great success,” said Jonathan Yunger, Co-President of Millennium Media in a statement.” We look forward to the same with The Bricklayer with many more to come.”
The deal was negotiated by Seth Needle, EVP of Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions, on behalf of Screen Media with Jonathan Yunger and Jeffrey Greensteinof Millennium Media.
The film is produced by Robert Van Norden, Yariv Lerner, Jeffrey Greenstein, Heidi Jo Markel, Les Weldon, and Jonathan Yunger and executive produced by Boaz Davidson, Avi Lerner, Erik Lindsay, Tanner Mobley, Lonnie Ramati, Trevor Short, Seth Needle, and David Nagelberg. The Bricklayer, is the second title in Screen Media’s output deal with Millennium Films, following THE ENFORCER.
Journey into a hilarious action-packed comedy from acclaimed director Renny Harlin when SKIPTRACE arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD October 25 from Lionsgate. The film is currently available On Demand.
Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville team up in the hilarious action-packed buddy comedy Skiptrace, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD October 25 from Lionsgate. The film is currently available On Demand. Chan, a straight-laced Hong Kong detective, meets Knoxville, a gambling American with a very important piece of evidence, to bring the man who murdered Chan’s partner to justice. From acclaimed director Renny Harlin (Die Harder, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) and written by Jay Longino and BenDavid Grabinkski, the hilarious Skiptrace Blu-ray and DVD include a behind-the-scenes featurette and audio commentary with the director and will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
For years, by-the-book Hong Kong detective Benny Chan (Jackie Chan) has tried to avenge his partner’s murder at the hands of a drug lord. When Benny learns that freewheeling American gambler Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville) has the evidence he needs, he teams with Connor to get justice. Now all Benny and Connor have to do is survive the fight of their lives — and each other!
Saban Films has acquired the US distribution rights to action comedy SKIPTRACE, directed by Renny Harlin (The Legend of Hercules, Die Hard 2) and written by Jay Longino and Ben David Grabinski. The film stars Jackie Chan (Rush Hour franchise, The Karate Kid), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass series), and Bingbing Fan (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Iron Man 3) and will open theatrically later this year.
SKIPTRACE follows a Hong Kong detective Bennie Black (Chan), who has been tracking a dangerous crime boss, Victor Wong, for over a decade. When Bennie’s beautiful young goddaughter Bai (Fan Bingbing) gets into trouble with Wong’s crime syndicate, he comes to the rescue and must track down the only man who can help her – a fast-talking American gambler named Connor Watts (Knoxville) who is also on the run from the mob. The unlikely pair embarks on a hilarious adventure from the wind-swept dunes of the Gobi Desert to the fantastical karst mountains of Guilin.
Saban Films President Bill Bromiley said, “Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville are both international sensations, and Renny Harlin’s smart yet fun approach to this big budget action film brings a raucous force to the screen. We are proud to be adding Skiptraceto our slate.”
Upcoming titles in the Saban Films slate include: Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram for the King starring two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks, where Saban will partner with Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions on the theatrical release; Alex and Ben Brewer’s The Trust starring Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood; I Am Wrath with John Travolta; USS Indianapolis starring Nicolas Cage; Stand Off starring Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane; Backtrack starring Adrien Brody and Sam Neil; and Academy Award Nominee Bob Nelson’s directorial debut, The Confirmation, starring Clive Owen, Maria Bello, Patton Oswalt, and Jaeden Lieberher.
BLOOM announced Renny Harlin (The Legend of Hercules, Die Hard 2) will direct action buddy comedy SKIPTRACE which will commence production on August 11, 2014.
Starring Jackie Chan (Rush Hour, The Karate Kid), Seann William Scott (American Pie, Role Models) and Fan Bingbing (Iron Man 3), SKIPTRACE is written by Jay Longino with revisions by Brian Gatewood & Alessandro Tanaka and Geoff Moore & David Posmentier and BenDavid Grabinski.
SKIPTRACE follows a Hong Kong detective Bennie Black (Chan), who has been tracking a dangerous crime boss, Victor Wong, for over a decade. When Bennie’s beautiful young niece Bai (Fan Bingbing) gets into trouble with Wong’s crime syndicate, he comes to the rescue and must track down the only man who can help her – a fast-talking American gambler named Connor Watts (Scott) who is also on the run from the mob. The unlikely pair embarks on a hilarious adventure from the wind swept dunes of the Gobi Desert to the rocky spires of the Huangshan Mountains.
Talent International and Dasym Entertainment will produce along with Jackie Chan, Esmond Ren, Charlie Coker, Damien Saccani and David Gerson. The film is financed by Talent International and Dasym Entertainment (a subsidiary of Dasym Investment Strategies B.V., Exclusive Media’s parent company). Alex Walton and Ken Kao’s newly launched BLOOM will handle international sales on the film.
Jackie Chan and Fan BingBing are represented by WME. Renny Harlin is represented by UTA.
Renny Harlin directed this new crime-thriller, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Eva Mendes and Luis Guzman. Renny Harlin is an interesting director, with a resume that ranges from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 to Exorcist: The Beginning, but he’s probably best known for Long Kiss Goodnight.
Tom Carver (Jackson) is a retired cop who’s now in the business of biological cleanup. In other words, when someone dies and the paramedics come and take the body, he’s the person you hire to come clean up the blood and what-not that’s left behind. Carver’s very good at what he does, working closely with the PD, which is why he doesn’t give much thought to a cleanup at a large fancy house that was witness to a murder. But, things begin to get fishy when Carver realizes he forgot to return the extra key to the house. When he arrives to return the key, he finds Ann Norcut (Mendes) is living in the house and has no idea what has occurred over the past 48 hours. Over the next few days, this sense of something not being right eats at Carver and he seeks the help of Lorenzo (Harris), his former partner. Carver now has to decide whether to keep what he knows a secret and protect his family or go to the authorities to do what’s right.
Cleaner becomes an attempt at a smart, edgy James Patterson type of thriller, but suffers somewhat from a script that is light on depth. The acting is great, which is to be expected from Jackson and Harris. The movie is enjoyable to watch, with good cinematography and Harlin’s subtle but distinct style is present. Cleaner doesn’t disappoint so much as under-achieve. The ending is solid, in so much as typical mainstream thriller endings are concerned. If you like the puzzle-like thrillers that revolve around a crime laden with conspiracy, you may want to check this out, but I doubt its going to rank very highly on your favorites list.
