Film News Roundup: Maisie Williams Thriller ‘The Owners’ Bought for Fall Release
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s film news roundup, Maisie Williams’ “The Owners” and crime thriller “Chameleon” get acquired and Adam Alleca’s sci-fi project “Singular” is in the works at Netflix.
ACQUISITIONS
RLJE Films has acquired the North American rights to the thriller “The Owners,” starring Maisie Williams (“Game of Thrones”), Jake Curran, Ian Kenny, Andrew Ellis, Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham.
The film is expected to be released in theaters and on VOD and Digital HD in the fall of 2020. Julius Berg made his feature directorial debut with “The Owners” from a script he co-wrote with Matthieu Gompel with the participation of Geoff Cox.
“Coming off the unprecedented success of ‘Game of Thrones,’ we’re excited to work with Maisie Williams and the other talented filmmakers and cast members,” said Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer at RLJE Films.
The story centers on a group of friends thinking they found an easy score at an empty house with a safe full of cash. But when the elderly couple that lives there comes home early, the tables are suddenly turned. The film was produced by Alain de la Mata and Christopher Granier-Deferre. Ward and Jess DeLeo from RLJE Films and Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.
****
Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to the crime thriller “Chameleon,” and set a May 19 release date for DVD and North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms.
Written, directed, and produced by Marcus Mizelle, “Chameleon” features an ensemble cast including Joel Hogan, Donald Prabatah, Alicia Leigh Willis, Jeff Prater, Acelina Kuchukova, Daniel Tolbert, Fernanda Hay, Allison Rose Williams, and Andrew Golov.
The story centers on two ex-cons who scam L.A. trophy wives and their rich older husbands. But their latest victim is not who she seems and threatens to ruin everything just when one of the ex-cons has had a change of heart and is ready to call it quits.
“’Chameleon’ is essentially about deception and how it leads to alienation,” said Mizelle. “I wanted to tap into the desperation people with limited opportunities feel and contrast that against the unappreciative folks who have too much.”
Freestyle’s Caleb Ward negotiated the deal with Brian Sweet of APL Film.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Netflix is launching development of Adam Alleca’s sci-fi project “Singular” for Davis Entertainment to produce.
The script centers around a female corporate executive who is sent to a remote planet to visit one of their scientists, only to discover that his experiments have become surreal and nightmarish.
Alleca is a Black List writer who most recently wrote the 2018 film “Delirium,” which was produced by GK Films, Appian Way, and Blumhouse. His directorial debut, “Standoff,” was released by Saban Films and stars Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane. He also wrote “The Last House on the Left,” directed by Dennis Iliadis and the Stephen King adaptation “Cell.”
Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox most recently produced “Dolemite Is My Name” for Netflix and Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Alleca is repped by Fourth Wall Management and Gendler & Kelly.
