Simon Crowe’s new sales company SC Films International has picked up the rights to Awaydays.

Pat Holden will direct the film, which is based on the book by Kevin Sampson, with David Hughes producing. The story follows a middle class child who becomes part of the notorious ‘Pack’gang and is set in the late Seventies in Liverpool.

Kevin Sampson, who is also executive producing, said: “I was brought up on films like Quadrophenia, The Harder They Come, The Man Who Fell To Earth… music-driven films that are cool and sub-cultural, but which pack a real commercial punch. It always seemed to me that Awaydays has all those elements.”

Optimum will release the film in the UK next month.