Film acquisition and distribution company, Saban Films has acquired, along with DIRECTV, the North American rights to Sarah Daggar-Nickson’s A Vigilante, starring Olivia Wilde (Meadowland, Her, and the upcoming Life Itself). The dramatic thriller made its World Premiere at SXSW and was produced by Lars Knudsen, Uncorked Productions’ Andrew D Corkin, Emmett Furla’s Randall Emmett and George Furla, Ambyr Childers, Wilde, and Allison Rose Carter. Following its qualifying run in 2018,A Vigilante will be released theatrically by Saban in Q1 of 2019 and will have a one-month exclusive window on DIRECTV first.
Written by Daggar-Nickson, A Vigilante follows a once abused woman, Sadie (Wilde), who devotes herself to ridding victims of their domestic abusers. Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett, C.J. Wilson, Tonye Patano, Chuck Cooper, Betsy Aidem, Judy Marte also star.
Saban Films CEO Bill Bromiley said: “Olivia plays a badass vigilante which is refreshing and relevant while also shining a much-deserved light on domestic abuse. This role shows a side of Olivia that we haven’t seen before and audiences will love!”
Pulse Films’ Thomas Benski and Bryan Reisberg, Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe, The Fyzz Facility’s Wayne Marc Godfrey, Robert Jones, Arnaud Lanic, and Babak Eftekhari, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier, and Henry Winterstein, Ted Fox, and Mark Stewart executive produced.
Bill Bromiley and Jonathan Saba negotiated the deal for Saban Films, with Endeavor Content on behalf of the filmmakers. Highland Film Group is representing international rights.
Last year at SXSW, Saban Films and DIRECTV acquired Eshom and Ian Nelms’ lauded feature Small Town Crime starring John Hawkes and Octavia Spencer. The two companies continue to bolster their successful slate, most recently following Alexandre Moors’ The Yellow Birds starring Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, Toni Collette, and Jason Patric, Jack Huston and Jennifer Aniston.
Saban Films continues to be active in the acquisition and distribution space, most recently landing Ludwig and Paul Shammasian’sRomans starring Orlando Bloom, and following its recent activity acquiring a slew of films out of the Cannes Film Festival, including:Between Worlds starring Nicolas Cage; the anthology Berlin, I Love You with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess; the Gerard Butler starrer Keepers; and David L.G. Hughes’ Viking Destiny. Its current slate also includes: Craig William Macneill’s racy drama Lizzie, starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart; and Ivan Kavanagh’s Never Grow Old starring John Cusack and Emile Hirsch.
Since the company’s launch in 2014, Saban Films has released over 40 films with successes that have run the gamut from critically acclaimed theatrical films such as The Homesman, to one of the biggest Fathom events in 2016 with Rob Zombie’s horror thriller 31. Recent releases include: Alexandre Moors’ The Yellow Birds starring Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, Toni Collette, with Jason Patric, Jack Huston and Jennifer Aniston; Alexandros Avranas’ Dark Crimes starring Jim Carrey and Charlotte Gainsbourg; Roland Joffe’s The Forgiven starring Forest Whitaker and Eric Bana; Taran Killam’s Killing Gunther starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Ric Roman Waugh’s Shot Caller starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lake Bell; War on Everyone starring Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, and Theo James; The Girl with All the Gifts starring Gemma Arterton and Glenn Close; Brad Silberling’s war thriller An Ordinary Man starring Academy Award® Winner Ben Kingsley; and Ethan Hawke action thriller 24 Hours to Live.
Outside of acting, Olivia Wilde will be making her feature film directorial debut with Annapurna’s comedy, Booksmart.
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About Saban Films
Saban Films, an affiliate of Saban Capital Group (“SCG”), is a film acquisition and distribution company which acquires high-quality, feature films to distribute in North America. Focusing on commercial, talent driven films, the company looks at projects in all stages of production for release across multiple platforms, including a day and date theatrical/VOD release strategy. Based in Los Angeles, Saban Films was established by Haim Saban, SCG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and is led by Bill Bromiley who serves as President, Shanan Becker, Chief Financial Officer and Ness Saban, Vice President of Business Development.