Saban Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Brian Smrz’s 24 Hours to Live, starring Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Magnificent Seven), Chinese actress Xu Qing (Mr. Six, Looper), Paul Anderson (The Revenant, Peaky Blinders), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones, The Guard), and Golden Globe winner Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Batman Begins). The upcoming thriller, from the producer behind the John Wick franchise and Sicario, will receive a theatrical release later this year.
Penned by Zachary Dean and based on an original script from Ron Mita & Jim McClain, 24 Hours to Live follows a career assassin who turns rogue after his latest mission goes awry. Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Fundamental Films’ Mark Gao and Gregory Ouanhon produced the film, with Fundamental Films fully financing. Kent Kubena, Jon Kuyper, Jonathan Fuhrman and Gary Glushon are executive producing.
Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley said: “We love the film – it’s the kind of high octane thriller we’ve come to know and understand. We’ve been following this project from the script stage, and are very excited we were able to make a deal.”
Fundamental Films’ Mark Gao said: “We’re thrilled to be partnered with the team at Saban, who are just as passionate and excited as we are to share this wild ride with everyone.”
Ness Saban and Bill Bromiley negotiated the deal on behalf of Saban Films. CAA handled U.S. rights, with Sierra/Affinity handling international sales and will screen the film in Cannes.
Most recently, Saban Films acquired North American distribution rights to: Ric Roman Waugh’s Shot Caller starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lake Bell; John Stockwell’s Armed Response starring Wesley Snipes and Anne Heche; Alexandros Avranas’ True Crime starring Jim Carrey; Small Town Crime starring John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson, and Octavia Spencer; FilmNation’s sci-fi film Kill Switch starring Dan Stevens and Bérénice Marlohe; and Roland Joffé’s The Forgiven starring Forest Whitaker and Eric Bana.
24 Hours to Live is the first collaboration between Fundamental Films and Thunder Road Pictures. Fundamental Films continues to grow beyond distribution in the Chinese market, becoming an international player in film financing, funding and production of international projects. The company is currently preparing for the summer release of Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, where Fundamental is the main financier and Chinese Distributor, is in post-production on the sci-fi thriller Replicas, and is in pre-production on Rally Car starring Keanu Reeves and directed by Olivier Megaton.
