U.K.-based global sales outfit Palisades Park Pictures has revealed a star-studded slate for Hong Kong’s film rights market FilMart.
John Travolta, Katherine Heigl and Christopher Walken lead romantic comedy “That’s Amore!,” which is in pre-production. Written and directed by “Green Book” writer Nick Vallelonga, the film follows two emotionally damaged people who attempt to date one another, and when their families get involved, comedy ensues.
The producers are Vallelonga (Vallelonga Prods.), Cassian Elwes (Elevated Films), Brenda Emmett and Vince Emmett (American Troubadours), David Polemeni; Tamara Birkemoe and Mark Damon, for Palisades Park Pictures, serve as executive producers.
Director Phillip Noyce has completed action-thriller “Fast Charlie,” starring Pierce Brosnan, Morena Baccarin and James Caan, and adapted from Victor Gischler’s novel “Gun Monkeys” by Richard Wenk (“The Equalizer”).
Brosnan plays Charlie Swift, a hitman who has been working for his aging mob boss, Stan (Caan), for two decades. After a rival boss attempts to eliminate Stan and his team, Charlie is left on his own to avenge his friend.
The producers areMitchell Welch, Jeff Holland, Brent C. Johnson and Ryan Donnell Smith; Damon and Birkemoe (Palisades Park Pictures), Joe Simpson, Simon Williams and Jonathan Bross (Ashland Hill Media Finance), Emily Hunter Salveson, Victor Gischler and Matthew E. Chausse serve as executive producers.
“Hellboy” filmmaker Neil Marshall has completed action-thriller “Duchess,” which he wrote with Charlotte Kirk, who also stars. The cast also includes Sean Pertwee and Colm Meaney. The film follows the rise of no-nonsense Scarlett Monaghan (Kirk) from a working-class petty criminal to a ruthless organized crime leader in the seedy underbelly of the diamond smuggling circuit of Tenerife.
Producers are Emily Corcoran (Cork Films) and Kristyna Sellnerova; executive producers include Simpson, Williams, Bross and Matthew E. Chausse (Ashland Hill Media Finance); Norman Merry and Peter Hampden (Lip Sync); Jon Dean, Phil Rymer, Seth Sklar, Colin Egglesfield, Giada Falzoni, Kirk and Marshall.
In pre-production is family drama “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the first of a series of film based on the “Magic Faraway Tree” books by Enid Blyton. It follows Polly and Tim and their children Beth, Joe and Fran, a modern family who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. The children discover a magical tree and its eccentric residents. At the top of the tree, they are transported to spectacular and fantastical lands and, through their adventures, the family learn to reconnect and value each other for the first time in years.
Ben Gregor (“Britannia”) directs a script by “Wonka” and “Paddington 2” writer Simon Farnaby. Pippa Harris and Nicolas Brown of Neal Street Prods. will produce alongside Danny Perkins of Elysian Film Group. Palisades Park Pictures is handling international sales and is co-representing U.S. sales with CAA.
The “Skyline” sci-fi franchise continues with Liam O’Donnelldirecting two more films. “Skyline Warpath,” which is currently filming, stars Iko Uwais (“The Raid” franchise), Scott Adkins (“Undisputed”), Louis Mandylor (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”), Randall J. Bacon (“General Hospital”) and Yayan Ruhian (“Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens”).
Set within the Skyline universe and five years after the events of “Beyond Skyline,” the film follows Sua (Uwais) as he leads the Resistance against the aliens. When he discovers the powerful alien Radial Gauntlet, he must deal with both the corrupt Eric (Adkins) and the army of alien invaders.
Producers are Chausse and Evangelo Kioussis. Palisades Park Pictures is handling international sales and the U.S. distributor is XYZ Films.
In “Skyline Radial,” which is in pre-production, follows Rose Corley and her crew as they embark on a daring mission to rescue her father, Mark, from a secret prison. They are confronted with the ultimate power of the universe: an ancient alien race known only as the Radial. The producers are Chausse and O’Donnell.
Palisades Park Pictures is represented at the Hong Kong market by Hannah Atlas, VP, international sales and distribution.
