Yahoo News Vertical Acquires Supernatural Horror Pic ‘The Damned’ Ahead Of Tribeca Premiere
EXCLUSIVE: In advance of its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival, scheduled for June 6th, the supernatural horror film The Damned, marking the feature directorial debut of Thordur Palsson (The Valhalla Murders), has locked in North American distribution with Vertical. The film will be released later this year.
Written by Jamie Hannigan, The Damned follows Eva (Odessa Young), a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing outpost during the middle of an especially cruel winter. With provisions running low, Eva and her close-knit community must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked crew and prioritizing their own survival. Facing the consequences of their decision and tormented by guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices.
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Pic’s cast also includes Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), Turlough Convery (Killing Eve), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy), Francis McGee (Kin), Mícheál Óg Lane (The Guard), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) and Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley). Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Kristiane Hodol produced for Elation Pictures, alongside John Keville and Conor Barry for Wild Atlantic Pictures, and Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page and Nate Kamiya for Ley Line Entertainment. The co-producers are Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson and Anton Máni Svansson for Join Motion Pictures, and Benoit Roland for Wrong Men.
Ley Line Entertainment financed alongside BCP, with the film also receiving support from Screen Ireland, Wallimage and the U.K. Global Screen Fund. Exec producers are David Darby and Lauren Shelton for Ley Line, John P Gleeson and Oisín O’Neill for BCP, Niamh Fagan for Screen Ireland, and Dave Bishop, George Hamilton and Luane Gauer for Protagonist Pictures.
Protagonist Pictures is handling worldwide sales.
“We are so excited to work with Vertical on the release of our film,” said the filmmakers in a joint statement to Deadline. “Their enthusiasm for the film combined with their track record of successfully connecting bold films with an audience gives us great hope for the future of The Damned in North America.”
Added Vertical’s Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, Tony Piantedosi, “Thordur has crafted a film that is dripping with atmosphere, sending chills through the audience as much from the creeping sense of dread as the arctic cold that flows off the screen. We look forward to unveiling the film to North American audiences later this year.”
Partner Peter Jarowey and Piantedosi negotiated the deal on behalf of Vertical, with Protagonist Pictures and CAA Media Finance repping the production.
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