Shout! Studios Nets North American Rights to Russian Horror Thriller ‘The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Shout! Studios, the distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory, has taken North American rights to Russian horror thriller “The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead.” 4Digital Media has taken British right.

The pic centers on Marina, who has just got engaged to Roman. An evil mermaid sets her eyes on Marina’s fiancé and is willing to do anything it takes to drag him into her underwater kingdom of the dead. Marina will have to overcome her fear of dark waters and defeat the monster without turning into an evil demon herself.

The movie is inspired by a Russian legend that girls who drown turn into mermaids, staying in the rivers and lakes forever. At night, they seduce men with their singing, and lure them to the bottom of the lake, where they become guards, protecting the mermaids.

Rights were previously sold to German-speaking countries (Splendid), French-speaking countries (First Intl. Prods.), Latin America (BF Distribution), Malaysia (Suraya), Taiwan (Moviecloud) and Vietnam (Purple Plan), among others.

Central Partnership is handling international sales for the film, which is produced by Film Studio KIT and QS Films, and directed by Svytoslav Podgaevsky.

Jordan Fields, VP of acquisitions at Shout! Studios, described the movie as “a stylish and evocative ghost story that delivers the scares.”