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Redbox and Quiver Acquire True-Crime Thriller ‘Bandit’ Based on the Best-Selling Novel

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Redbox Entertainment, America’s destination for affordable new-release movies and Quiver Distribution, have acquired the North American distribution rights to BANDIT, starring Josh Duhamel, Elisha Cuthbert, Nestor Carbonell, and Mel Gibson. The film will be available in theaters and On Demand in 2022.

Directed by Allan Ungar and written by Kraig Wenman, the crime drama is based on Robert Knuckle’s best-selling novel, The Flying Bandit, the real-life story of Gilbert Galvan Jr., who lived under the name Robert Whiteman when he was dubbed the Flying Bandit in 1987. Itwas produced by Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman of Yale Productions, Eric Gozlan of Goldrush Entertainment, and Ryan Donnell Smith of Thomasville Pictures.

BANDIT is a thrilling true-life story of Gilbert Galvan Jr., who successfully got away with 63 bank and jewelry heists during his crime spree. It tells the tale of the career criminal (Josh Duhamel), who escapes from a U.S. prison and crosses the border into Canada, assuming a new identity. After falling in love and getting married, he claims to take a job as a traveling security consultant, and his crimes continue. Only when he turns to lifetime gangster Tommy (Mel Gibson) for an investment does his simple career become complicated, and he finds himself at the center of a special forces cross-country manhunt.

”We are incredibly excited to be working with the teams at Redbox and Quiver on the release of BANDIT,” said Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman of Yale Productions. “We know this film will appeal to audiences around the country, and Redbox is the perfect partner to give everyone a chance to see it.”

“The outstanding ensemble cast along with Kraig’s skillful adaptation and Allan’s remarkable directing brings this riveting story to life,” said Galen Smith, CEO of Redbox Entertainment. “We’re delighted to bring this edge-of-your-seat thriller to audiences next year.”

“We’re thrilled to again be partnering with Redbox Entertainment and Yale Productions after the successful collaborations with Becky and Chick Fight,” said Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman. “Josh Duhamel shines as the anti-hero bandit that you will root for against Mel Gibson in this true action thriller that we know audiences will love.”

The deal was negotiated by Marc Danon, Head of Original Content for Redbox Entertainment.

BANDIT is the latest in a string of acquisitions from Redbox that includes SHE BALL (Nick Cannon), THE LAST SON (Sam Worthington), CAPONE (Tom Hardy), SHADOW IN THE CLOUD (Chloë Grace Moretz and Nick Robinson), SAS: RED NOTICE (Sam Heughan and Ruby Rose), and AMERICAN TRAITOR: THE TRUE STORY OF AXIS SALLY (Al Pacino and Meadow Williams). It also comes on the heels of Redbox’s venture with John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk to form Asbury Park Pictures, which is programming a slate of high-concept action and thriller films over the next few years.

Read the full story on Business Wire.

ABOUT REDBOX

Redbox is America’s leading destination for affordable new-release movies and entertainment with more ways to watch than any other home entertainment provider. Redbox delivers value and convenience through unparalleled choice across content, platforms, rental and purchase options, and price points. The company recently announced a definitive agreement to combine with Seaport Global Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: “SGAM,” “SGAMU,” and “SGAMW”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company. The transaction, which will result in Redbox becoming a publicly-traded company, is expected to accelerate Redbox’s ongoing transformation to offer customers and partners a multi-product experience across physical and digital channels. The company’s expanding streaming offering includes digital rental and purchase as well as free live TV and free On Demand content and complements Redbox’s nationwide footprint of more than 40,000 entertainment kiosks, conveniently located where consumers already shop. Redbox Entertainment, a new content acquisition and production division has further transformed Redbox into a multi-channel content provider. For more information, visit redbox.com.

ABOUT QUIVER DISTRIBUTION

Quiver Distribution is a film distribution company operating in the U.S., Canada and international markets which develops and distributes high-quality, talent-driven films. Founded by entertainment industry veterans Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman, Quiver Distribution focuses on curating a highly selective film slate from both established and emerging talent, allowing for distinctly tailored campaigns and a filmmaker first approach.

ABOUT YALE PRODUCTIONS

Yale Productions is a New York based production company formed in 2010 by Jordan Yale Levine. Their recently released films include STOWAWAY from Joe Penna, currently on Netflix starring Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette, SEPARATION with Rupert Friend, Brian Cox and Madeline Brewer, in theaters, CHICK FIGHT with Malin Ackerman, Bella Thorne, and Alec Baldwin available on VOD and the thriller BECKY with Lulu Wilson and Kevin James. Past films include the SXSW comedy, I USED TO GO HERE, the Christian Slater film, KING COBRA, and Ash Christian’s PETUNIA.

ABOUT GOLDRUSH ENTERTAINMENT INC.

Goldrush Entertainment Inc. is an award-winning production company dedicated to developing, financing, and producing high-quality commercial film and television for international audiences. Their recently released films include A SCORE TO SETTLE, starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (LEAVING LAS VEGAS) and Benjamin Bratt (MISS CONGENIALITY) and MOST WANTED, starring Josh Hartnett (“Penny Dreadful”), Antoine Olivier Pilon (MOMMY) and Jim Gaffigan (“Portlandia”).

Cannes: Josh Duhamel on Playing a Career Criminal in ‘Bandit,’ ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ Cancellation

Josh Duhamel has had a whirlwind first half of 2021.

At the top of the year, he flew to the Dominican Republic to star opposite Jennifer Lopez in Lionsgate’s Shotgun Wedding, replacing Armie Hammer in the 11th hour after Hammer left to project following allegations of sexual misconduct. He then released Netflix’s splashy Mark Millar adaptation Jupiter’s Legacy, which was not renewed for a second season despite being atop Nielsen’s streaming chart and in Netflix’s own Top 10 chart.

Now, after barreling through a high-concept studio action rom-com and the debut of a superhero series, he is currently in Georgia shooting a project with an independent spirit: Bandit.

Bandit, which is being sold internationally by Highland Film Group at the virtual Cannes market, tells the true story of Gilbert Galvin (aka The Flying Bandit) who in the late 1980s planned more than 63 bank and jewelry heists in Canada, all while leading a double life with a wife and a fake job as a traveling security consultant. Mel Gibson, Elisha Cuthbert and Nestor Carbonell also star.

Speaking on his day off from Bandit‘s tight shooting schedule, Duhamel talks about what attracted him to Galvin, ’80s sweaters and the Jupiter’s Legacy cancellation: “It’s pretty disappointing, I’m not going to lie.”

What made you sign on to Bandit?
I read this script and love this story. I got to talk a little bit with Gilbert Galvin, the man himself. The balls that this guy had to do what he did back in the late 80s. Obviously, security back then was much less rigid than it is now, but I loved the bravado of this dude. He figured out how to disguise himself, figured out which place was vulnerable, how he could get in and out quickly and how he could quick-change out of these crazy disguises in such a short amount of time. He would have a turtleneck and a jacket on and he’d cut the turtleneck down the side so he could tear off the jacket, tear off the turtleneck and the pants were tear-aways and he was wearing a three-piece suit underneath it all. And then sometimes he would go back to [the crime scene] to ask the cops, “Hey, what’s going on here?”

Given that you are playing a real person, how was preparing for this project different from others?
Prep on everything is a little bit different. On this one, because I was playing a real guy, I had the opportunity to pick his brain. What was he feeling the first time he did it? What was your heart rate? Was it a thrill or was it pure terror? He’s not a well-known guy so I am trying to make him as accurate as I can, but I’m also trying to fictionalize him in a way that embodies the spirit of what he did and why he did it rather than trying to emulate him perfectly.

In the beginning, [the robberies] were purely out of desperation because he was broke. And then it became like this thrill that he became addicted to. And the problem is he went through the money almost as fast as he got it. So, even though he stole $2.4 million, he still ended up broke in the end. The one thing that so many of these stories really boil down to is wanting to be loved and wanting that family. That’s really what drove him.

The movie is set in the late 1980s. How has it been inhabiting that time period?
You should have seen the sweater I had on yesterday, oh my god. I walked into the trailer and my girlfriend was there and she just started laughing because I looked like something out of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It was this lavender-looking thing. The clothing was wonderfully awful.

Hollywood has a long history of heist movies. Did you watch any before heading to set?
I am a huge fan of Catch Me If You Can and Heist — the one with Robert De Niro. There is such a long history. But the thing I’ve been doing as an actor over the last several projects is I don’t go out there with anything sort of pre-planned. Because you never really know what’s going to happen and every time you try to plan something, it doesn’t go that way. The set is different. The actor you are playing opposite of isn’t doing what you expect them to do. So it’s so much more fun to just sort of go in there with a bag of tools or a bag of ideas and pull from that as you go.

How was it to join Shotgun Wedding so close to production beginning? Are there advantages to that?
Of course, I always do the work and I know where I am in each scene. But within any scene, so many things can happen that you don’t even see coming. If you just embrace the unexpected, it keeps you wide open to anything. What has really helped me as an actor is not being so afraid anymore. I used to be so afraid that I would fuck it up. If I mess up a line, I’m going to screw up the whole thing. Now, I don’t care if I screw a line up. I’ll come back and I’ll do it better the next time. I’ve found that it really helps make the scene come alive. And J-Lo was awesome and fully embraced it. We obviously rehearsed but then I just liked to try stuff in the moment and see what happens. If I’m having fun, the audience is having fun. For me, when I’m watching something, I can tell when it was pre-rehearsed. I love Jack Nicholson, especially in the 70s, because you can just tell that dude went in and just let it rip. You didn’t know what he was going to do. And that’s really what I’m trying to do in my work now.

Your most recent project Jupiter’s Legacy isn’t getting a second season but has become one of the most-watched streaming shows of the year. How has it been watching it be embraced by audiences but know that there won’t be more of it?
Well, it’s pretty disappointing, I’m not going to lie. We all worked really hard on it, we’re proud of it and we loved it. Then the audiences have really, really loved it. It’s been a success by every metric I thought it would be, but apparently it’s not enough. It’s a weird thing, it really is, because we all thought that the second season was going to be so much fun. And you could see it start to happen at the end of the first season and the stuff that happens, especially to my character in that second season, would have been awesome. But it was an expensive show and the new leadership at Netflix, I’m not sure they ever really embraced it.

I want to pitch an idea to them to just do a feature, telling the story of that second season. We can just do a movie and then I think that would satisfy what the audience really wanted to see in that second season. So, we’ll see. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’m grateful to Netflix for giving me a chance to play it up because I got to do a lot of fun stuff in that show and do a lot of things I hadn’t done. For that, I’m grateful. I don’t have any hard feelings. It sucks and it hurts and it’s disappointing; but at the same time, that’s what this business is. It’s ups and downs.

Is there any type of project that you haven’t gotten to do yet that you are hoping to try?
I really want to do more directing and just keep finding projects as an actor that let me do things that I never thought I could do. Jupiter’s Legacy was one of those. I got to do some stuff in that which was beyond anything that anybody had given me a chance to do before. It was a long journey, but it was all about the final product. None of these things are easy to make. Every single project — even the one I’m on now — is a challenge every single day. But when you’re done with it, it’s such a feeling of accomplishment because so many people have to come together in every single department to work towards one thing. The hope is that you’re making something great. Nobody sets out to do anything other than that.

Read the full story on The Hollywood Reporter.

Nestor Carbonell Joins Josh Duhamel in Action Thriller ‘Bandit’

Nestor Carbonell, who plays weatherman Yanko Flores the in buzzy series The Morning Show, has joined Mel Gibson and Josh Duhamel in Bandit, an action thriller being directed by Allan Ungar.

Elisha Cuthbert is also on the call sheet for the movie that is currently shooting in Georgia.

Bandit is based on the true story of Gilbert Galvan Jr., also known as The Flying Bandit, who successfully got away with 63 bank and jewelry heists during his notorious crime spree. Duhamel is playing the career criminal, who escaped an American prison and crossed into Canada, creating a new life for himself but who couldn’t stop his brazen robbing ways.

Cuthbert is playing the wife. Gibson is the gangster who offers the Bandit a loan.

Carbonell’s character is that of “brilliant Detective Snydes,” who leads the cross-country manhunt, according to the producers.

Highland Film Group is handling international sales on the film.

Kraig Wenman wrote the script, which is based on author Robert Knuckle’s best-selling novel and journalist Ed Arnold’s interviews with Galvan.

Producing are Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman of Yale Productions, Eric Gozlan of Goldrush Entertainment, and Ryan Donnell Smith of Thomasville Pictures.

Carbonell made a name for himself with appearances in fan-favorite outings such as Lost, The Dark Knight and Bates Motel. He returns for season two of Apple Studio’s hit series The Morning Show, which debuts Sept. 17.

The actor is repped by APA and Thruline.

Read the full story on The Hollywood Reporter.

Hayley Law And Keith Powers To Topline Avan Jogia’s Debut Feature, ‘Door Mouse’

Hayley Law (RiverdaleAltered Carbon) and Keith Powers (The Tomorrow WarStraight Outta Compton) are set to star in actor Avan Jogia’s debut feature, Door Mouse, which just wrapped production in Canada.

Also starring Famke Janssen (Redeeming LoveWhen They See UsX-Men) and Donal Logue (The Cloverfield ParadoxZodiac), the neo-noir thriller centers on a woman named Mouse (Law) who is stuck in a dead-end job, doing nothing with her life and going nowhere. Mouse works at Mama’s Burlesque Club all night, where her boss Mama (Janssen) encourages her to pursue her real passion of making comics. When a friend from work named Doe-Eyes goes missing and the cops do nothing about it, Mouse and her sidekick Ugly (Powers) take it upon themselves to find out what happened to her. What they discover is that corruption runs deep, monsters are real, and that sometimes, justice is meant to be taken into your own hands.

Independent Edge’s Kyle Mann (The New Romantic) and Cause and Effect Entertainment’s Jason Ross Jallet (Two Lovers and a Bear) produced the pic, with JoBro Productions’ Jonathan Bronfman (The Witch), Drive Films, Michael Risley (The New Romantic), Goldrush Entertainment’s Eric Gozlan (A Score to SettleMost Wanted), and Nathan Klingher (One WaySupercell) exec producing. Additional funding for the project came from Telefilm Canada, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, and Ontario Creates. Highland Film Group are handling worldwide sales at the virtual Cannes market in June.

Starring in the Tribeca-premiering comedy Mark, Mary & Some Other People, Law also recently appeared in Saban Films’ Echo Boomers, opposite Michael Shannon. The actress’s credits on the TV side include Netflix sci-fi drama Altered Carbon and The CW’s Riverdale.

Powers’ upcoming projects include Amazon, Paramount and Skydance’s sci-fi thriller The Tomorrow War, Netflix’s The Perfect Find,  and On Our Way. The actor is also known for turns in F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton, and the Netflix anthology series What/If.

Jogia’s credits as an actor include Zombieland: Double Tap, Dan Mazer’s upcoming film The Exchange and the upcoming Resident Evil reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. He is represented by ICM Partners, LINK, The Characters Agency, and Jackoway Tyerman et al.

Law is repped by Paradigm and Management 360; Powers is repped by Paradigm and Megan Silverman Management, and Janssen is with LINK, APA, and The Artists Partnership.

Read the full article on Deadline.