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Exclusive: Saban Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to The Super, the Stephan Rick-directed genre thriller that stars Top Gun 2‘s Val Kilmer and Chicago P.D.‘s Patrick John Flueger. The film was scripted by Black Swan’s John J. McLaughlin based on an idea by Law & Order creator/producer Dick Wolf, who produced through his company Wolf Entertainment alongside Tom Thayer, Patrick Rizzotti and Brett Forbes. Saban Films has set an October 19 release and the film should play through Halloween and on VOD.

The Super centers on the mysterious disappearance of several tenants at a luxury New York City apartment building. Phil Lodge (Flueger), the building’s new superintendent and a former NYPD officer, immediately suspects Walter (Kilmer), the strange maintenance man. With his daughters’ lives on the line, Phil must decipher the cryptic riddles in which Walter speaks to solve the disappearances before it’s too late.

It wasn’t too long ago that news broke out of Sundance that Saban Films had acquired Lizzie, and now the company has obtained the Us distribution rights to a new supernatural thriller starring Nicolas Cage called Between Worlds.

Press Release: Los Angeles – Saban Films, who has been one of the most active U.S. distributors on the Croisette this week, has acquired U.S. distribution rights to writer/director Maria Pulera’s supernatural thriller Between Worlds which stars Nicolas Cage, Penelope Mitchell, Franka Potente, and Hopper Penn. Eric Banoun and David Hillary produced alongside Pulera via their company Rise Up, LLC. Saban Films is planning a day-and-date theatrical/VOD release.

Between Worlds follows Joe (Cage), a down-on-his-luck truck driver haunted by the memory of his deceased wife and child. He meets Julie (Potente) a spiritually gifted woman who enlists Joe in a desperate effort to find the lost soul of her comatose daughter,...

Saban Films has bought U.S. distribution rights to writer/director Maria Pulera’s supernatural thriller “Between Worlds,” starring Nicolas Cage, Penelope Mitchell, Franka Potente, and Hopper Penn.

Eric Banoun and David Hillary produced alongside Pulera through their company Rise Up LLC. Saban is planning a day-and-date theatrical/VOD release.

Cage portrays a down-on-his-luck truck driver haunted by the memory of his deceased wife and child. He meets a spiritually gifted woman, played by Potente, who enlists him in a desperate effort to find the lost soul of her comatose daughter (Mitchell). But the spirit of his dead wife proves stronger, possessing the young woman’s body.

Saban’s Bill Bromiley said, “Nic’s talent and star power is unparalleled. Having worked with him on a number of films such as ‘The Trust’ and ‘USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage,’ we’re thrilled to be re-teaming with him and bring this to our audiences.

Nicolas Cage’s supernatural thriller Between Worlds is heading to the U.S. after Saban Films continued its busy weeks in Cannes.

The company has picked up U.S. distribution rights to Maria Pulera’s film, which also stars The Vampire Diaries’ Penelope Mitchell, The Bourne Supremacy’s Franka Potente and War Machine’s Hopper Penn. It is planning a day-and-date theatrical/VOD release.

The film, which is produced by Eric Banoun and David Hillary alongside Pulera via their company Rise Up, follows Joe, played by Cage, a down-on-his-luck truck driver haunted by the memory of his deceased wife and child. He meets Julie, played by Potente, a spiritually gifted woman who enlists Joe in a desperate effort to find the lost soul of her comatose daughter, Billie, played by Mitchell. But the spirit of Joe’s dead wife Mary proves stronger, possessing the young woman’s body and determined...

Saban Films has acquired the North American rights to “Berlin, I Love You,” whose cast includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess. The movie is an anthology feature containing 10 romantic stories set in the German capital.

The deal marks Saban’s fourth acquisition out of the Cannes Film Festival, after it picked up Matthew Ross’ “Siberia,” starring Keanu Reeves, the Gerard Butler starrer “Keepers,” and David L.G. Hughes’ “Viking Destiny.”

Directors Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron will each helm different segments of “Berlin, I Love You,” with Josef Rusnak directing the transition sequence tying up all the episodes.

The film is produced by Claus Clausen and Edda Reiser of Walk on Water Films; Alice De Sousa of Galleon Films, and Skady Lis of Getaway Pictures are co-producers. Emmanuel Benbihy is executive producing, and the film was financed by VX119 Media Capital.

Helen Mirren and Keira Knightley’s Berlin, I Love You is heading to the U.S. after Saban Films has acquired the North American rights.

The anthology feature, which also stars Jim Sturgess, tells ten stories of romance set in the German capital with directors including Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron helming different segments with Josef Rusnak directing the transition sequences.

The film is produced by Claus Clausen and Edda Reiser (Walk on Water Films) alongside Alice De Sousa (Galleon Films) and Skady Lis (Getaway Pictures) as co-producers.

Emmanuel Benbihy is executive producing, and the film was financed by VX119 Media Capital, whose managing partners are Jeff Geoffray and Jeff Konvitz. Highland Film Group is handling worldwide sales together with Disrupting Influence’s Glenn Kendrick Ackermann and Jason Piette, with CAA Media Finance co-repping the U.S. rights.

Saban Films has picked up North American rights from Film Mode Entertainment to the adventure fantasy Viking Destiny.

Terence Stamp, Anna Demetriou, Martyn Ford and Ian Beattie star in the feature, from director David L.G. Hughes.

The story follows a viking princess (Demetriou) who is forced to flee her kingdom after being framed for the murder of her father, the king. Under the guidance of the God Odin (Stamp), she travels the world building the army she needs to win back her throne.

Film Mode, which is handling international sales on the film, has already closed deals for Viking Destiny...

Saban Entertainment has picked up North American rights to “Viking Destiny,” a historical action film starring Terence Stamp.

The film was written and directed by David L.G. Hughes, and explores the legendary voyages of Scandinavian explorers. It co-stars Ian Beattie, Martyn Ford and Anna Demetriou.

The film was executive produced by Clay Epstein’s Film Mode Entertainment, which is also handling international sales. Production is by Hughes and Andee Ryder. Executive producers include Kwesi Dickson and Tony Krantz. The film is screening this week in the Cannes Film Market.

Previous sales deals include those with 101 Films for the U.K., Black Hill Pictures for Germany, Minerva Pictures for Italy, Transmission Films for Australia and New Zealand, and Falcon Films for the Middle East.

“This was an ambitious first film for Film Mode to executive produce, but with such supportive partners, we are thrilled with the result,” Epstein said in a statement.

Saban Films has picked up North American rights from Film Mode Entertainment to the adventure fantasy <em>Viking Destiny</em>.

Terence Stamp, Anna Demetriou, Martyn Ford and Ian Beattie star in the feature, from director David L.G. Hughes.

The story follows a viking princess (Demetriou) who is forced to flee her kingdom after being framed for the murder of her father, the king. Under the guidance of the God Odin (Stamp), she travels the world building the army she needs to win back her throne.

Film Mode, which is handling international sales on the film, has already closed deals for <em>Viking Destiny</em> with ...

Terence Stamp will play Norse god of war and wisdom Odin in the film Viking Destiny.

The adventure film, which was written and will be directed by David L.G. Hughes, will explore the lives and legendary crusades of Scandinavian explorers. It centers on a young Norse girl, the rightful heir to the Viking kingdom, who is banished after she's framed for the murder of her father, the king. She travels the world with Odin to build up the army she needs to reclaim the throne.

"I wrote the part of Odin with Terence Stamp’s photo on my desktop as inspiration,"...

Writer/director David L.G. Hughes' British crime film Hard Boiled Sweets will be available On Demand Tuesday, September 25 and we've got an exclusive featurette that you can watch below. In the film, ex-con Johnny is forced into pulling a heist he wants nothing to do with. Mob boss 'Shrewd' Eddie has one million in dirty cash stashed at his home, just waiting to be stolen. But what Johnny doesn't know is that seven other very dangerous criminals also have plans to steal the money... Philip Barantini, Elizabeth Berrington, Adrian Bower, Liz May Brice, Paul Freeman, Ty Glaser, Laura Greenwood, Ian Hart, Nathaniel Martello-White, Danny Sapani, Scott Williams, Peter Wrght and René Zagger star.

Check out the official poster for the upcoming independent drama Hard Boiled Sweets, featuring an ensemble cast including Paul Freeman, Ty Glaser and Scot Williams.

Ex-con Johnny (Scot Williams) is forced into pulling a heist he wants nothing to do with. Mob boss ‘Shrewd’ Eddie (Paul Freeman) has one million in dirty cash stashed at his home, just waiting to be stolen. But what Johnny doesn’t know is that seven other very dangerous criminals also have plans to steal the money…

Additional cast include Philip Barantini, Elizabeth Berrington, Adrian Bower, Liz May Brice, Laura Greenwood, Ian Hart, Nathaniel Martello-White, Danny Sapani, Peter Wrght, and René Zagger.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

Mob Boss is used to getting whatever he wants; he runs Southend, gets all the best women including the gorgeous, sought after Porsche The Sherbet Lemon and has one million pounds in dirty cash stashed in a briefcase at his home.

As part of our coverage of the DVD release of Hard Boiled Sweets (see our review here), we were able to interview actor Scot Williams, who plays the key role of Johnny in David Hughes’ feature-length directorial debut. We started off asking him how he came to the project…

Scot Williams: I got a call out of the blue and was offered a role, which is very rare. Usually I have to audition, but on this occasion my agent sent me a disc for the short film A Girl & A Gun, which had Paul Freeman and Ian Hart in it. I was drawn to it and because I’d worked with Ian in Backbeat I called him up and asked him if he would recommend I work on it and he said “absolutely”. The script was fabulous and the other actor attached were excellent – I wouldn’t have agreed...

As part of our coverage of Hard Boiled Sweets, the feature debut of writer-director David Hughes (you can read our review here), we had the chance to speak with him at some length about getting the film made, his aspirations and influences and where he might go from here.

HeyUGuys: The Special Features on the DVD say a lot about getting the project going. It seems to have all started with Ian Hart?

David Hughes: Ian Hart, [co-star] Paul Freeman, [producer] Margaret Matheson – these are people with incredible careers and they’ve shown incredible generosity to me. I was working in film advertising and I wrote a script [short film A Girl & A Gun]. A guy I knew who worked on film scoring had kids at school with Ian Hart’s kids and said he seemed like an approachable guy in the playground and asked if he could try to give the script to him. He took...

A whole host of gangsters, pimps, low-lifes, call-girls, ex-cons and bent cops move in and out of each other’s lives during a couple of busy days in Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Jimmy The Gent (Peter Wight) is up from London to see local big man Shrewd Eddie (Paul Freeman) and has a big wedge of cash on him, which seemingly everyone has a plan to lay hold of. But who will be left sitting pretty?

*****

The story of how this film came to the big (and now smaller) screen is labyrinthine but impressive. Writer and Director David Hughes had written a script for the short film that preceded it (A Girl and A Gun) and a music composer that he knew from his day job in film advertising offered to try to pass it to actor Ian Hart (Backbeat, Harry Potter, Enemy of the State), who he saw in the...

Hard Boiled Sweets

Stars: Philip Barantini, Elizabeth Berrington, Adrian Bower, Paul Freeman, Liz May Brice, Laura Greenwood | Written and Directed by David L.G. Hughes

Guy Ritchie has a lot to answer for. Following the success of his British gangster flick Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels we’ve had a myriad of rip-offs and wannabes of which Hard Boiled Sweets is one. Taking inspiration from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Guy Ritchie’s aforementioned gangster flick, the film weaves together a number of different stories and characters into this tale of seaside gangsters – the trouble is right from the get-go you know exactly where the film is headed and how all the plot threads will come together; watching everything pan out as you’ve already guessed makes for very dull viewing!

The film follows mob boss ‘Shrewd’ Eddie (Freeman), a Southend-on-Sea gangster who is used to getting whatever he wants; he runs the town,...

★★☆☆☆ British gangster flick Hard Boiled Sweets (2012) is the feature length debut of writer and director David L.G. Hughes, and boasts an all-British cast including Peter Wight (My Week With Marilyn) and Elizabeth Berrington (In Bruges). The film follows the highs and lows of London crime boss Jimmy The Gent (Wight), who's recently fallen on hard times after new school gangster Leroy (Danny Sapani) moves in on his turf, demanding that Jimmy step down and pay him £1.5 million. Jimmy reluctantly agrees and proceeds to make his monthly tour of London to collect money from those who work for him, ending up in the seedy world of Southend.

Read more »...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

There are certain cinematic genres that historically the British have always done well, and the gangster film is maybe at the top of the list. Think The Long Good Friday, Get Carter, or more recently the sumptuous Sexy Beast. Hard Boiled Sweets is David Hughes’ addition to the canon and, though it doesn’t last as long in the memory as those films mentioned, it more than holds its own, and is one of the stronger British gangster films of recent years.

Southend-on-Sea is best known for penny arcades, cheap B&Bs and donkey rides along the beach, but here it is home to a labyrinthine criminal underworld complete with sex, drugs, and bodies dredged up at low tide. Shrewd Eddie is the boss of the town, and he’s in a bad mood, because this weekend Jimmy The Gent, the big cheese in London, and more importantly,...