Freestyle Acquires Jinn for US Theatrical Release

It has been announced that Freestyle Releasing has acquired US theatrical rights to the supernatural thriller, Jinn:

"Freestyle Releasing has acquired the domestic theatrical rights to JINN, a tension filled supernatural thriller from Detroit-based Exxodus Pictures. The film, written and directed by Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad, was produced by Ahmad and Benjamin Dresser, and stars Ray Park ("Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace"), Faran Tahir ("Iron Man", "Star Trek"), William Atherton ("Die Hard", "Ghostbusters"), Serinda Swan (A & E's "Breakout Kings"), and Dominic Rains ("Flight 93"). Richard Mandell, Najam Syed and Shahid Syed executive produced the film for Exxodus. A release date for the film will be announced in the forthcoming weeks.

The amazing story of JINN involves ancient mythological creatures who have never been seen in U.S. cinemas before. The premise of the jinn concept, known to over 1 billion people around the world, involves supernatural entities and revolves around creation mythology: In the beginning, three were created; man made of clay; angels made of light; and a third...made of fire. They are powerful due to their existence in a parallel world, and also because they have free will and can be both good and evil.

The film has already generated a lot of early attention online, as the teaser trailer and links to other related material have generated over 2.5 million combined hits. JINN is also unique in that the hero vehicle used in the film, known as the "Firebreather," was designed by the director and is the first vehicle in motion picture history available to the public for purchase. The "Firebreather" is a V8, 618 horsepower super exotic American muscle car with 50 limited editions being produced as the exact replica of the vehicle in the film. The car, several of which have already been sold, was designed by Exxodus Pictures to honor the Detroit automotive industry by creating a modern vehicle with the soul of classic American muscle.

The distribution deal was negotiated by Freestyle's Co-President Mark Borde, Head of Acquisitions Chris Charalambous and Richard Mandell and Najam Syed from Exxodus Pictures.

"The Exxodus team and I are very excited to be working with Freestyle Releasing on the film, especially with their experience and delivery model. They understand the originality of the jinn concept and its franchise potential, and will definitely market the concept to North American movie going audiences while retaining its authenticity to people already familiar with the idea," said Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad.

"We are happy to be distributing a film that will introduce North American audiences to an entirely new, entirely different supernatural concept, and I know that our team is excited to get this movie out to the public," said Freestyle's Borde.

Freestyle Releasing is responsible for distributing some of the most successful independent films, including THE ILLUSIONIST, THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY and AN AMERICAN HAUNTING. Freestyle's recent slate of releases includes the critically-acclaimed Filipino horror-thriller THE ROAD from director Yam Laranas, along with TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN directed by Stuart Beattie, which also marked the first feature film to debut digitally on Facebook. Upcoming theatrical titles for Freestyle include YOU MAY NOT KISS THE BRIDE starring Katharine McPhee and Rob Schneider."