11:12 AM PDT 11/3/2016 by
Barkhad Abdi and Danny Glover star in the action-thriller, which also has sealed several major international deals.
Action-thriller Extortion has been acquired by the Grindstone Entertainment Group for North America and will be distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
Barkhad Abdi, who won a BAFTA and earned an Oscar nomination for his role as a Somali pirate in Captain Philips, stars in the film alongside Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), Eion Bailey (Band of Brothers, Ray Donovan) and Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill, Dexter). Phil Volken directs from his own script.
Tannaz Anisi’s 13 Films is handling worldwide rights to Extortion, which sees a family stranded on an abandoned island in the Bahamas only to be discovered by two fishermen who demand $1 million to rescue them.
“We have championed this film from script to completion and are delighted to announce its U.S. distribution, and thrilled to be working with the team at Grindstone and Lionsgate Home Entertainment,” Anisi said Thursday in a statement.
In addition to North America, 13 Films has lined up a slew of international deals for the pic, including Signature (U.K.), FIP (France), Eagle Pictures (Italy), Ascot Elite (Germany), Interfilm (Japan), Corbi Media (Spain), Tanweer (Greece, Indonesia, Turkey), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), DDDream (China), Sookie Pictures (South Korea), Ocotarts (Philippines), Ster-Kinekor (South Africa), Kinoswiat (Poland), Eagle Films (Middle East), TV Globo (Brazil), Bulgaria Film Vision (Bulgaria), Foxx New Media (Czech Republic), Star Media (Ex-Yugoslavia), and Fox TV (Pan Asia Pay TV).
The domestic deal was negotiated by Anisi and Stan Wertlieb of Grindstone. 13 Films — whose slate also includes Four Kids and It with Michael Caine, Desmond Tutu drama The Forgiven from Roland Joffe and political thriller Public Affairs, starring Thora Birch and Adrian Grenier — will continue sales for Extortion at AFM.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afm-2016-grindstone-lionsgate-snatch-domestic-rights-extortion-943800