WestEnd Boards Heist Musical ‘The Score,’ Starring Johnny Flynn, Will Poulter, Naomi Ackie (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – World sales agency WestEnd Films has boarded “The Score,” a heist musical starring Johnny Flynn (“Emma,” “Stardust”), Will Poulter (“The Revenant”), Naomi Ackie (“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”) and Antonia Thomas (Netflix’s “Lovesick”), from one of the producers of Beatles music themed hit “Yesterday,” which grossed $154 million worldwide.

“The Score” combines a heist thriller suspense with offbeat romance. Two small-time crooks, Mike (Flynn) and Troy (Poulter), are on a mission – the “score” – that they both expect will transform their circumstances. At a roadside café, as they wait for the handover, Troy falls in love with the waitress, Gloria (Ackie), and begins to question his life choices. But it may be too late to change because, unbeknownst to him, Mike has brought him here to kill him.

“The Score” is written and directed by Malachi Smyth (“Gateway 6”), and produced by Matthew James Wilkinson of Stigma Films (“Yesterday,” “Amulet,” “Muscle”), and Ben Pullen of Sentinel Entertainment (“Gateway 6”). Pont Neuf Prods.’ Isabelle Georgeaux is co-producing; Georgeaux previously collaborated with Wilkinson on Simon Bird’s comedy, “Days of the Bagnold Summer.”

“The Score” will feature the music of Flynn, who is the lead singer and songwriter of band & The Sussex Wit. Smyth said: “The songs are windows into the souls of the characters. They speak of another life, of dreams, suppressed feelings and inner turmoil. Johnny Flynn’s songs have a timeless, universal, earthy quality, a poetry of immense feeling. They can throb with menace or burst with passion.”

Maya Amsellem, managing director of WestEnd, said: “It brings together some of the brightest young actors on the U.K. film scene and we believe it will strongly appeal to fans of both heist thrillers, and also musicals, around the world.”

Executive producers on the project are Nick Angel, who collaborated with Wilkinson on “Yesterday,” and Tim Dellow of Transgressive, which represents Flynn’s music. Crew members include casting director Kelly Valentine Hendry and production designer Paul Cripps.

The film will begin shooting in the U.K. on March 16.