Thriller ‘Wrong Reasons’ From EP Kevin Smith Sets Release; A24’s ‘Y2K,’ Luke Hemsworth Actioner ‘Gunner’ Add To Casts; ‘Desperate Souls, Dark City’ Gets New Trailer – Film Briefs
EXCLUSIVE: MVD Entertainment Group has claimed North American rights to the darkly comedic thriller Wrong Reasons, marking the feature debut of writer-director Josh Roush. The film, executive produced by and featuring Kevin Smith (Clerks III, Red State), is slated for release on digital, VOD, Blu-ray and DVD on August 15.
Hailing from AntiCurrent Productions, Wrong Reasons watches as an ambiguously intentioned masked man (James Parks) kidnaps a drug addicted punk rock singer (Liv Roush) and triggers a police investigation headed by Detective Charles Dobson (Ralph Garman) as well as a media circus. The film also starring Teresa Ruiz, David Koechner, Daniel Roebuck, Smith and Keith Coogan boasts a punk rock soundtrack with music by Tim Armstrong, L7, Black Flag, The Wipers, Channel 3, William Elliott Whitmore, The Unseen, Bi-Product and more.
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After world premiering at Smith’s first annual Smodcastle Film Festival in the fall of 2022, the Liv Roush-produced film toured theatrically in North America and Australia during the first quarter of 2023, with the backing of Smith. “Few first films are as accomplished as Wrong Reasons,”said Smith in a statement to Deadline. “This punk rock thriller by Josh Roush reminded me of why I got into filmmaking in the first place, and seeing what he accomplished on a next-to-nothing budget even inspired me to go equally indie-as-f**k on my next feature.”
Eric D. Wilkinson negotiated Wrong Reasons‘ deal on behalf of MVD Entertainment, with Liv Roush on behalf of AntiCurrent Productions. Watch the film’s trailer above.
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EXCLUSIVE: Sebastian Chacon (Daisy Jones & The Six) and newcomer Lauren Balone have nabbed undisclosed roles in Y2K, the dial-up disaster comedy that SNL‘s Kyle Mooney is directing for A24.
In the film penned by Evan Winter, which is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, two high school nobodies (Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison) decide to crash the last big party before the new millennium. When the clock strikes midnight, the night gets more insane than they ever could have imagined.
Rachel Zegler, Lachlan Watson, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi, Tim Heidecker, Eduardo Franco, Miles Robbins, Alicia Silverstone, Fred Hechinger and Daniel Zolghadri will also star, as previously announced. A24 is financing the pic and will handle its worldwide release, also producing alongside Winter, Matt Dines, Ali Goodwin and Jonah Hill of Strong Baby, and Christopher Storer under his American Light & Fixture banner. Wētā Workshop will oversee the film’s design and practical effects.
Chacon is repped by Paradigm and Robert Stein Management; Balone by Buchwald and Anonymous Content.
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EXCLUSIVE: Sean Rogers (Warner Bros’ The Flash), Yulia Klass (Survive the Game), John Hickman (Jiu Jitsu), Gary Wood (Kickboxer: Retaliation) and Barry Minoff (Assassin) are set for roles in the upcoming action thriller Gunner, led by Luke Hemsworth and Morgan Freeman, which Dimitri Logothetis is directing from Gary Scott Thompson’s script.
The recently-wrapped film follows Special Ops veteran Lee Gunner (Hemsworth) as he takes his two sons on a fishing trip to reconnect. The trip soon turns awry when the boys stumble upon a massive drug running operation and are kidnapped by Dobbs (Jenkins), the son of gang kingpin Kendric Ryker (Freeman), who runs his organization from prison. With no one but himself to retaliate and with elite combat skills they won’t see coming, an enraged Gunner wreaks havoc to rescue his two sons from Ryker’s gang.
Also to star Joseph Baena, Connor DeWolfe, Grant Feely and Mykel Shannon Jenkins, as previously announced, Gunner‘s producers are Joel Shapiro (Killerman, Dear Dictator) and Logothetis. Joel Cohen is serving as exec producer on the film financed by 120dB Films, Convergence Entertainment Group and Highland Film Group, with Highland handling worldwide rights. Rogers is repped by AFA Prime Talent; Klass by DBA, Kruglov & Associates and Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro.
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EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has an exclusive trailer for Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films’ Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, a new docu on the making of the iconic John Schlesinger pic from Nancy Buirski (The Loving Story), which is slated for release in theaters by Zeitgeist on June 23.
The film inspired by a 2021 book by Glen Frankel goes behind the scenes to visually document the creation of a masterpiece made by complex and paradoxical characters in New York City, 1969, an era when all the rules of society were being questioned. Featuring inside stories of the film’s production from cast members including Jon Voight, Brenda Vaccaro and Bob Balaban, the doc also spotlights such cultural critics as J. Hoberman, Lucy Sante, Ian Buruma and Charles Kaiser, who provide insight and perspective on the period of the film’s original release.
Producers on the film, which world premiered last year in Venice, are Buirski, Susan Margolin, Simon Kilmurry and Augusta Films, in association with Cineflix Productions and Foothill Productions. Exec producers are James Costa, Geralyn Dreyfous, J.C. Mills, Glen Salzman, Regina K. Scully, Nathalie Seaver, Mark Trustin and Jamie Wolf. The film was co-produced by Claire L. Chandler. View the new trailer below.
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