Film News Roundup: Shia LaBeouf to Star in David Ayer’s Thriller ‘Tax Collector’

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s film news roundup, Shia LaBeouf is starring in “Tax Collector,” Scout Taylor-Compton joins “Abeyance,” and streaming service Docsville is expanding.

CASTINGS

and Bobby Soto are starring in David Ayer’s crime thriller “Tax Collector,” which will be shot in Los Angeles this summer.

Cross Creek Pictures is financing “Tax Collector,” a co-production between Cross Creek and Cedar Park Entertainment, Ayer’s production company. Ayer and Chris Long of Cedar Park are the producers. The filmmakers are keeping the logline under wraps.

Ayer’s directing credits include “End of Watch,” “Sabotage,” “Fury,” “Suicide Squad,” and “Bright.” LaBeouf worked with Ayer in the World War II action-drama “Fury.” LaBeouf’s show business drama “Honey Boy” is in post-production.

Cross Creek is repped by CAA Media Finance and Schuyler Moore of Greenberg Glusker Fields. Cedar Park, Ayer, and Long are repped by CAA. The news was first reported by Deadline.

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Scout Taylor-Compton, Richard Tyson, Billy Wirth, and Mel Novak joined the cast for the sci-fi thriller “Abeyance,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Harley Wallen (“Bennett’s Song”) is directing from his own script. The story centers on a troubled military vet, played by Damien Chinappi, who stumbles across a kidnapping with great scientific implications. He partners with a prostitute to help a young escapee and finds a world far more complex, cutthroat and dangerous than they could ever imagine.

Yan Birch, Vida Ghaffari, Shane Hagedorn, and Calhoun Koenig (“Moving Parts”) also star. Production will begin in late June and continue through early August in Pontiac, Mich.

Taylor-Compton’s credits include Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” and “Halloween II” as well as “The Runaways.” She is repped by Gersh and Luber Roklin Management. Tyson’s credits include “Kindergarten Cop,” “Black Hawk Down,” and “Something About Mary.” He is repped by the Horne Agency and 3G Management.

STREAMING

Streaming service Docsville has announced its launch on Amazon Channel in the U.K. as an add-on subscription for Prime members.

Docsville is available in 156 countries and as an app for both iOS and Android devices. It’s supported technically and financed by the Swedish tech giant, Magine, and is financing and co-financing new documentaries, acquiring new films and is creating one of the most comprehensive back catalogues of documentaries.

Docsville editor Nick Fraser said, “I am truly excited about the future of documentaries in the online space; our launch on Amazon Channels in the UK promises to increase the profile and support of our unbeatable content.”

Docsville has teamed up with K-11 to make the nine-part series “China Next” on the culture of modern China, with each episode following a different millennial blurring the line between artist, innovator, and entrepreneur. Capitalizing on a wealth of opportunities that their parents never had, their ventures range from comic books to cutting-edge cuisine, online gaming to contemporary art.

Docsville was formed by Lawrence Elman, Clive Ng, and Fraser, the founder of the BBC strand Storyville. He’s been involved with “Man on Wire,” “One Day in September,” “Searching for Sugarman,” and “The Square.”