By Dave McNary, Variety
Screen Media has bought North American rights to writer-director Joel Souza’s police crime-thriller “Crown Vic,” starring Thomas Jane and Luke Kleintank.
The distributor closed terms during the Cannes Film Festival amid a competitive bidding situation between seven other suitors. Screen Media plans to release the pic this fall.
“Crown Vic” premiered in April at the Tribeca Film Festival. The supporting cast includes David Krumholtz, Josh Hopkins, Bridget Moynahan, Scottie Thompson and Gregg Bello. “Crown Vic” follows one explosive night in the life of a seasoned LAPD veteran, portrayed by Jane, as he takes a young cop (Kleintank) out on patrol and shows him the brutal reality of life behind the wheel of a Crown Vic.
The producers are Alec Baldwin and his El Dorado Pictures, Anjul Nigam under his Brittany House Pictures, and Bello. Maxx Tsai also produced under his China-based Wudi Pictures.
“Joel starts ‘Crown Vic’ off with an incredible sequence that had us utterly glued to the screen from there on,” said Screen Media president David Fannon. “What follows is a gripping story shown through lenses that make the streets of Los Angeles at night pop (which is not an easy task), and Tom’s amazing performance — a role it seems he was born to play. We’re so happy to be working with Joel, Alec, Anjul, Gregg and team.”
Nigam, Tsai and Bello recently worked together on “Bayou Caviar,” Cuba Gooding Jr.’s directorial debut.
Seth Needle of Screen Media negotiated the deal with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers. The Solution is handling foreign sales, and unveiled the film to international buyers at the Cannes Film Market during the past few weeks.
Screen Media recently acquired North American rights to the documentary “Liam Gallagher: As It Was,” which launched at Cannes; worldwide rights to the sci-fi/horror anthology movie “Portals”; and North American rights to Alexandre O. Philippe’s doc “Memory: The Origins of Alien,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
Jane stars in the sci-fi series “The Expanse,” which has been picked up for a fourth season by Amazon. Kleitank is best known for his role in “The Man in the High Castle.”
