AGC has closed a raft of Cannes virtual market deals on Nick Jonas-Laurence Fishburne action-thriller The Blacksmith.
Sizeable pre-sales have closed in Germany & Switzerland (Constantin), France (Metropolitan), UK (Entertainment Film), Latin America (CDC & CVT), Russia (Paradise/MGN) and South Korea & Vietnam (Joy’N’Content).
Pacts have also been sealed with Benelux (The Searchers), Greece (Odeon), Middle East (Salim Raima), Eastern Europe (Prorom), Indonesia (PT Prima), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Thailand (Sahamongkolfilm), Phillipines (Pioneer), Israel (United King), Turkey (BG Films) and India (Empire Networks).
AGC, which reps world rights, had a virtual presentation with CEO Stuart Ford and director Pierre Morel (Taken) as well as a video mash up showcasing Jonas and Fishburne.
Morel and Liam Neeson previously had big success with action franchise Taken. This time it will be Jonas with the very particular set of skills. The actor and singer will play Wes Loomis, a ‘Blacksmith’ – the intelligence community’s go-to weapons expert. When his clandestine lab is destroyed and his colleagues murdered, he must go on the run with only his unique set of technological skills and the help of a brilliant, young CIA analyst Noelle Hazlitt to keep him alive. They seek out Mather (Fishburne), a retired blacksmith and Wes’ mentor, to help guide them.”
Casting for the female lead Hazlitt is underway and AGC is aiming for a late 2020 production start on the movie which it hopes will be the start of a new action franchise.
Ben Ripley’s (Source Code) script is based on the graphic novel from Kickstart Comics by Malik Evans and Richard Sparkman. Along with AGC Studios, Jon Shestack (Air Force One) will produce with Kickstart Productions’ Jason Netter (Wanted), and Jeremy Stein, with AGC’s Stuart Ford and Linda McDonough executive producing. Samantha Shear and Bob Sobhani will also executive produce.
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