IFC Films has acquired Xavier Gens’ action spectacle “Mayhem!” (“Farang”) from Studiocanal ahead of its premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival.
Produced by Vincent Roget (Same Player) and Dimitri Stephanides (WTFilms), “Mayhem!” will be released in 2024.
“Xavier Gens has crafted an energetic and propulsive film, showcasing some of the most impressive fight choreography we have ever seen,” said Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ Film Group.
“While winking at films like ‘The Raid’ and ‘Taken,’ Xavier has made a film which stands on its own as an iconic new member of the hand-to-hand action canon. We are thrilled to be working with the immensely talented team to bring this riveting story to theaters,” he added.
Shot in France and Thailand, “Mayhem!” stars Nassim Lyes as Sam. When he gets out of prison, he finds it difficult to escape the reach of a local gang lord. He heads to Thailand, but searching for a kidnapped family member brings him square into the bullseye of the underbelly he was trying to escape.
“Sam possesses exceptional boxing skills and uses them to earn a living and rationalize his survival in prison. However, what truly matters to him is his ability to emerge as a virtuous individual. He yearns to embody the roles of a devoted husband and a loving father,” Gens toldPvNew.
“Unfortunately, life has a way of snatching these aspirations away from him. It’s an exploration of someone battling to change their life and seize a different destiny. This profound desire to achieve personal redemption gives this narrative a deep and relatable quality,” he added.
Lyes was already spotted in Prime Video’s “Overdose,” directed by Olivier Marchal, and will be featured in the upcoming season of “Julia” about Julia Child.
Olivier Gourmet, Loryn Nounay, Vithaya Pansringarm and Sahajak Boonthanakit are also among the cast. Magali Rossitto, Guillaume Lemans and Gens wrote the script.
“I devoted a considerable amount of time engaging in conversations with authentic prisoners, contemplating the changes they would make if granted a second chance. The prevailing themes that emerged from these discussions revolved around the significance of family, the pursuit of redemption and the inherent pull towards ill-fated choices,” added the director.
“Interestingly, the desire to start afresh or embark on a new life in a foreign land, such as Thailand, also held its allure.”
Gens’ “Gangs of London” collaborator and second unit director Jude Poyer, helped him shape action scenes.
“We would always focus on the emotions driving the action,” he observes. Adding that the delicate “equilibrium between action, violence and emotion” was always on their minds.
“Thanks to this process, each scene resonates with Sam’s emotional state, but it also evokes the intended response from the audience. For example, his first fight in Paris, which coincides with a dramatic event that ultimately makes him leave France, had to deliver a visceral impact. Similarly, when it came to portraying his first experience of taking a life, we aimed to create a moment of jarring violence and shock.”
“Witnessing the audience’s responses during screenings, particularly during these moments, is a source of great joy.”
Gens sees his film as an “Eastern,” he says.
“I wanted to fashion a contemporary Western: a tale that reverberates with timeless themes and embodies the essence of frontier exploration. But instead of the sun-soaked landscapes of the American West, the territories I decided to traverse resided in Southeast Asia.”
“This expedition, both visually and emotionally, allows the viewers to transcend the confines of their seats, transporting them to a new realm unbounded by the constraints of convention.”
The deal was negotiated for Studiocanal by Aska Yamaguchi, head of U.S. and digital sales and Sophie Leuthreau, head of business & legal affairs, international distribution, licensing & music and Shooman for IFC Films.
“We are thrilled to have found the perfect partner for ‘Mayhem!’ in IFC Films who have already demonstrated their passion for Xavier’s work by securing the North American premiere at the Fantasia,” said Yamaguchi.
IFC Films’ most recent releases include Matt Johnson’s “BlackBerry,” shown at Berlinale, “Biosphere” with Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown, and documentary “Lakota Nation vs. United States,” executive produced by Sarah Eagle Heart and Mark Ruffalo.
“This enthralling piece of cinema commands an audience and with IFC on board we and the filmmaking team cannot wait for this wild ride to begin,” Yamagachi added.
