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Heather Graham, Tom Hopper Lead Western ‘Place of Bones,’ Highland Preps Sales for EFM

Heather Graham and Tom Hopper are set to star in the western action film “Place of Bones.”

The film also stars UFC welterweight and mixed martial artist Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (“The Equalizer 2”) and Corin Nemec (“Stargate SG-1”). Directed by Audrey Cummings, “Place of Bones” is written by cinematographer-director Richard Taylor.

Set in 1876, a botched bank robbery sees vicious outlaw gang leader Bear John (Hopper) feverishly hunting down his traitorous accomplice, Calhoun, to recover the stolen money. Nearly dead, Calhoun drags himself to a remote ranch where Pandora (Graham) lives with her daughter.

As Bear and his crew of bandits arrive, intent on delivering brutal revenge, Pandora has no choice but to defend her daughter. But Bear John and his men will soon discover that this isn’t Pandora’s first rodeo.

The film is produced by Eric Gozlan under his Goldrush Entertainment banner, and is executive produced by Tom Whiteman. Highland Film Group is representing worldwide rights to the film, and will continue selling the title at the European Film Market next month.

“Place of Bones” is also produced by David Lipper and Robert A. Daly Jr under their Latigo Films banner, which recently wrapped on Harvey Keitel starrer “Joe Baby.”

Cummings said of “Place of Bones”: “I’m incredibly excited to have the chance to explore the legendary frontier of the 1800s and with such an exceptionally talented cast.”

Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser added: “We are thrilled to be working on this female-centered western. With director Audrey Cummings at the helm, Heather Graham is poised to deliver a powerful performance unlike anything we’ve seen her do before.”

Added Highland COO Delphine Perrier: “This action-packed western will definitively prove that this genre is no longer a male-dominated arena. Tom brings the muscle and the menace as a merciless outlaw – but Heather is not your typical damsel in distress. She is a worthy adversary with some surprising skills.”

Producer Gozlan noted: “’Place of Bones’ is the first western produced under the Goldrush Entertainment Banner and we are so excited to see this compelling story come to life! The stars have aligned with our superb cast led by Heather and Tom.”

Graham recently starred in “The Last Son” and indie darling “The Rest of Us” as well as the conspiracy thriller “Wander.” She also wrote, directed and starred in the feature film “Half Magic,” which released to critical acclaim. On the TV side, she has been featured in “Law & Order: True Crime,” “Bliss,” “Californication” and “The Stand.”

Hopper currently stars in the Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy” in the role of Luther Hargreeves, opposite Elliot Page and Aidan Gallagher. He recently starred as the lead in Netflix hit “Love in the Villa” alongside Kat Graham. He’ll next be seen in Amazon Original feature “Space Cadet” opposite Emma Roberts.

Since retiring from the sport of professional mixed martial arts where he left as one of the biggest stars the UFC, Cerrone has transitioned into an acting career. Meanwhile, Nemec’s recent credits include “Joe Baby” and “Run Hide Fight.”

Graham is repped by RMS Productions, Paradigm, APA and Morris Yorn Barnes; Hopper is repped by The Gersh Agency, Waring McKenna, Entertainment 360 and R&CPMK; Cerrone is repped by Mike Staudt at The Gersh Agency; Nemec is repped by Mavrick Artists Agency and Endorse Management Group in Los Angeles; Latigo Films is repped by CAA; Cummings is repped by Gersh and Echo Lake Entertainment.

Read the full article on Variety.

‘Door Mouse’ Trailer Puts Famke Janssen & Hayley Law in the Middle of Avan Jogia’s Thriller [Exclusive]

Collider can exclusively present the trailer for Door Mouse, an upcoming neo-noir thriller starring Famke JanssenHayley Law, and Keith Powers. The movie is actor Avan Jogia’s (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon CityZombieland: Double Tap) feature directorial debut.

The trailer introduces us to Mouse (Law), a dancer at a burlesque club that dreams about becoming a comic book writer and getting out of the nightlife. Mouse’s hopes for the future are fed by Mama (Janssen), the club owner, who expects Mouse to do something else besides entertaining strangers on the stage. However, Mouse’s dreams are put to hold once two of the nightclub dancers go missing in a couple of weeks. One girl was snatched from her home, while the other disappeared after being cornered in an alley by masked people. Since the police don’t seem to do anything about the girls’ disappearances, Mouse enlists her friend Ugly (Powers) to help her investigate the case herself.

In the trailer, Mouse talks with several people involved in the nightclub, searching for clues. Everyone gives her the same warning, telling Mouse it’s dangerous to ask certain questions. Unfortunately, curiosity kills the Mouse, and when the woman comes too close to the truth, she also becomes a victim. The trailer doesn’t reveal all of the film’s secrets, but we see Mouse kidnaped by people wearing weird masks, put on a leash, and taken to a building to please rich people. Mouse is not one to go down without a fight, though, and the trailer teases how she’ll fight to escape the building and save all the girls inside.

Who’s Involved with Door Mouse?

Jogia directs Door Mouse from a script he wrote himself. Kyle Mann produced the film via Independent Edge with Jason Ross Jallet for Cause and Effect Entertainment. The movie is executive produced by Jonathan Bronfman for JoBro Productions, Michael Risley for Drive Films, and Eric Gozlan and Nathan Klingher for Goldrush Entertainment. The movie also stars Donal Logue (The Cloverfield Paradox).

Door Mouse comes to theaters and on-demand on January 13.

Read the full article on Collider.

Avan Jogia’s ‘Door Mouse’ Acquired by Gravitas Ventures

EXCLUSIVEGravitas Ventures has acquired U.S. rights to actor Avan Jogia’s first feature Door Mouse from Highland Film Group. The thriller starring Hayley Law (Riverdale), Keith Powers (The Tomorrow War), Famke Janssen (Long Slow Exhale), Donal Logue (Gotham) and Jogia (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) is slated for release in theaters and on demand on January 13.

Pic follows Mouse (Law), an irreverent dancer at a dead-end burlesque club run by Mama (Janssen). When Mouse’s only friends and fellow club dancers go missing under mysterious circumstances, nobody at the club seems too concerned about them, and the police couldn’t care less. Mouse and her constant sidekick Ugly (Powers) quickly realize that it’s up to them to dig up all the dirt and start the hunt for the culprits. 

Jogia directed from his script, with Kyle Mann producing for Independent Edge, along with Jason Ross Jallet from Cause and Effect Entertainment. Goldrush Entertainment’s Eric Gozlan served as exec producer. Highland Film Group sold the film’s Canadian rights to Elevation Pictures, negotiating its Gravitas deal with Senior Director of Acquisitions Bill Guentzler.

Read the full article on Deadline.

Filming true-crime caper Bandit was practically a heist in itself

“It was the shortest shoot I’ve ever been on, and the biggest movie I’ve ever made.”

That’s Toronto director Allan Ungar talking about his new movie Bandit, which stars Josh Duhamel in the true story of Gilbert Galvan Jr., an American who came to Canada in the 1980s and pulled almost 60 bank robberies and other heists, taking in more than $2.3 million, before being caught.

The film is a comedy, its light tone helped by the fact that Galvan – dubbed The Flying Bandit by the media for his habit of jetting across the country to rob banks in other cities – was unfailingly polite and never violent. “He was basically an honorary Canadian,” says Ungar. “He adopted the Canadian mentality.”

Ungar, 33, says he took inspiration from films like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard that combine action and humour. There’s also a little of Catch Me If You Can in Bandit’s DNA. “That’s how Josh was pitched the film. His agent said: This is your Catch Me If You Can. That’s why he read it. And he called me a week later and said he’d take it.”

The cast is rounded out by Elisha Cuthbert as Galvan’s wife; Nestor Carbonell as a determined police officer; and Mel Gibson as an Ottawa crime kingpin. Filming was supposed to take place in Vancouver and Ottawa, but COVID restrictions, especially quarantine requirements for any out-of-country cast and crew, necessitated a move. American producers suggested Georgia or Puerto Rico.

Ungar recalls telling them: “I don’t know if any of you have guys have ever been to Ottawa, Vancouver or Toronto, but Puerto Rico will not work. However, I think rural Georgia can double for rural Ontario, and I think Atlanta can double for Vancouver.”

Filming in the U.S. was expensive, and so a planned 32-day shoot featuring 200 scenes and 95 sets and locations was cut to just 21 days. “It was gutted,” the director groans. “I’m still trying to figure out how we did it.”

He found himself driving around southern Georgia, peering between plantations and colonial buildings for anything that could pass for the kind of Victorian architecture more common to Canada, or looking for a building that could be shot from three angles to look like different banks. The small towns of Valdost, Tifton and Thomasville came through.

“I don’t think it’s ever been done before,” Ungar says of having Georgia play Canada. Usually those civic impersonations go the other way. “And I was terrified what Canadians would think if the movie came out and they could see right through it.” He notes that getting the period details right was its own challenge, but “Georgia as Canada was much more difficult.”

Ungar says one of the producers did suggest changing the script so the story happened in America. “That went in one ear and out the other,” he says with a chuckle. “I didn’t even give it the time of day. There was no other way to do it.”

Indeed, Bandit wears its Canadian heart on its sleeve, notwithstanding the necessity of shooting stateside. (The crew did manage a few days of filming in Ottawa before production wrapped.) The soundtrack is stocked with period-appropriate music by Canadian acts likes Trooper, Doug and the Slugs, and Burton Cummings.

And while the banks’ names had to be changed to things like Golden Crown and Royale East, their corporate colours will be familiar to Canucks. Also, calling the then-new air miles program Air-o-plan isn’t fooling anyone. The joke in the movie is that Galvan travels so much for his job as a “security consultant” that he racks up the points.

There’s even a cameo by Galvan himself, whose story was told in the 1996 book The Flying Bandit: Bringing Down Canada’s Most Daring Armed Robber. Kraig Wenman adapted the book for the screen. Galvan is in two scenes as a patron at the bar where Josh’s version of him meets Gibson’s character.

“He’s there,” Ungar confirms. “Eagle-eyed viewers will be able to see him.” He says Galvan liked to tell stories to the crew but mostly stayed out of the way of the filmmakers. “I think he realized that we had done our homework,” he says. “He was so happy to be there, and so happy that his story was being told.”

Read the full article on National Post.