James Badge Dale’s Thriller ‘Standoff at Sparrow Creek’ Bought by RLJE

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – RLJE Films has acquired all North American rights to the thriller “The Standoff at Sparrow Creek,” from Cinestate and XYZ Films.

Written by Henry Dunham who is also making his feature directorial debut, the film stars James Badge Dale, Chris Mulkey, Brian Geraghty, Robert Aramayo (“Game of Thrones”), Patrick Fischler (“Twin Peaks”), Happy Anderson  and Gene Jones.

“The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” premiere Sept. 9 at Midnight Madness at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. RLJE plans to release the film nationally in theaters and on VOD and Digital HD in early 2019.

“This is our seventh collaboration with Dallas Sonnier, the producer of ‘Bone Tomahawk’ and ‘Brawl in Cell Block 99,’” said chief acquisitions officer Mark Ward for RLJE Films. “With a Black List script by Henry Dunham and a talented cast led by , we are confident we will not disappoint genre enthusiasts at this year’s Midnight Madness at TIFF.”

“The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” is set after a shooting at a police funeral, when Dale’s reclusive ex-cop finds himself unwittingly forced out of retirement when he realizes that the killer belongs to the same militia he joined after quitting the force. Understanding that the shooting could set off a chain reaction of copycat violence across the country, he quarantines his fellow militiamen in the remote lumber mill they call their headquarters and sets about a series of grueling interrogations, intent on ferreting out the killer.

“The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” was produced by Dallas Sonnier (“Brawl in Cell Block 99”) and Amanda Presmyk (“Dragged Across Concrete”) for the Texas-based entertainment studio Cinestate, alongside Sefton Fincham, Johnathan Brownlee and Adam Donaghey. XYZ Films’ Nate Bolotin and Todd Brown are executive producers, as well as Danielle Cox, Steve Gossett, Jr., Preston Poulter and Michael Shader.

Ward and Jess De Leo from RLJE Films negotiated the deal with Sonnier and United Talent Agency on behalf of Cinestate and the filmmakers. XYZ Films is handling international sales and introducing the film to buyers at TIFF.

RLJE Films’ past films include “I Kill Giants,” starring Zoe Saldana,”Pilgrimage,” starring Tom Holland, writer-director S. Craig Zahler’s “Brawl in Cell Block 99,” starring Vince Vaughn and “Bone Tomahawk,” starring Kurt Russell.