Mister Smith has closed a raft of early sales on Phillip Noyce’s thriller Lakewood starring Naomi Watts, which wrapped production in Canada in late summer.
Wild Bunch has acquired the film for France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, while Jaguar picked it up for the Middle East, Long Shong for Taiwan, and Belga Films for Benelux.
Deals have also closed in Indonesia (PT Prima), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Poland (Best Film), Turkey (Filmarti), Greece (Odeon), Israel (United King), former Yugoslavia (Blitz), and Baltics (Acme).
The project was developed by Untapped Productions. Boies/Schiller Entertainment (Jane Got A Gun) and Limelight, the company behind Sundance smash Palm Springs, are fully financing the project with Canadian production house Stratagem. UTA Independent Film Group represents US rights alongside Endeavor Content and CAA Media Finance.
Watts (The Impossible, 21 Grams, upcoming Penguin Bloom) plays a mother racing to save her child as authorities pursue an active shooter in her small town. Screen has obtained the first-look photo, and Mister Smith will show first footage to buyers this week. The project is in post.
Noyce (Dead Calm, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Quiet American) directs Lakewood from a screenplay by Chris Sparling (Greenland, Buried).
Producers are Andrew Corkin of Untapped Productions, Sparling and Alex LaLonde of Stratagem Rx, Zack Schiller and David Boies of Boies/Schiller Entertainment, Watts through Jam Tart Films, and Chris Parker and Dylan Sellers of Limelight.
Executive Producers are Tyler Zacharia, who helped structure financing, alongside Boies/Schiller Entertainment’s Devin Andre, with Untapped Production’s Theo James of the Divergent franchise, and Alex Dong of Limelight.
David Garrett, Mister Smith Entertainment founder and CEO, said: “Everyone really responded to this great script and had confidence in Naomi’s acting process to carry this complex and exciting thriller. We are showing the first footage from the film at AFM and getting a great response from buyers and distributors.”
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