Featuring arguably the most beloved zombie ever put to film, George A. Romero's Day of the Dead is a seminal standout in the horror genre that has grown a diehard fanbase in the thirty-plus years since its release. New takes on Romero's groundbreaking 1985 film were featured in 2005's Day of the Dead 2: Contagium and 2008's Day of the Dead, and now Saban Films has acquired the US rights to Millennium Media's new Day of the Dead reimagining, with a release expected late this year:
Press Release: TORONTO – September 9, 2017 – Saban Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to a slate of films from Avi Lerner’s Millennium Media. The trio of titles includes Isaac Florentine’s Acts of Vengeance starring Antonio Banderas, Karl Urban, Robert Forster and Paz Vega; Paul Solet’s Bullet Head (formerly Unchained) also starring Banderas, John Malkovich and Adrien Brody; and Day of the Dead a remake of George Romero’s Day of the Dead directed by Hèctor Hernández Vicens and starring Sophie Skelton. The three action-thrillers will be released in Q4.
“Avi Lerner has long become synonymous with widely appealing action thrillers with marquee names like Antonio Banderas, John Malkovich and Adrien Brody and films with the pedigree of Day of the Dead” said Saban Films President Bill Bromiley. “This is perfectly in line with our acquisition strategy. Our audiences are starving for these types of films, and with this newly minted relationship we are thrilled to have a steady pipeline of these movies we can deliver to our audiences across the country.”
Written by Matt Venne, Acts of Vengeance follows a fast-talking lawyer who transforms his body and takes a vow of silent, not to be broken until he finds out who killed his wife and daughter and has his revenge.
Written by Solet, Bullet Head is a Reservoir Dogs-style thriller centering on a group of career criminals who trap themselves in a warehouse with the law closing in, and run into the attack dog named DeNiro. The tale is told in a series of intertwining narratives that explore the love, fear and conditioning and all the wrong turns that have put them in the dog house, fighting for their lives.
Written by Mark Tonderai and Lars Jacobson, Day of the Dead follows a small group of military personnel and survivalists who dwell in an underground bunker as they seek to find a cure in a world overrun by zombies.
Ness Saban and Bill Bromiley negotiated the deal on behalf of Saban Films with Dave Sobieraj from Millennium.
Saban Films continues to be an active buyer following the acquisition of Taran Killam’s Killing Gunther and the Ethan Hawke Action/Thriller 24 Hours to Live, both of which will be released later this year. Recent titles also include Ric Roman Waugh’s Shot Caller starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lake Bell, Simon West’s Gun Shy starring Antonio Banderas and Olga Kurylenko and John Travolta’s Speed Kills. Upcoming titles for release include: Sean Penn’s The Last Face starring Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem; John Stockwell’s Armed Response starring Wesley Snipes and Anne Heche; Alexandros Avranas’ True Crime starring Jim Carrey; and FilmNation’s sci-fi film Kill Switch starring Dan Stevens and Bérénice Marlohe.
About Saban Films
Saban Films, an affiliate of Saban Capital Group (“SCG”), is a film acquisition and distribution company which acquires high-quality, feature films to distribute in North America. Focusing on commercial, talent driven films, the company looks at projects in all stages of production for release across multiple platforms, including a day and date theatrical/VOD release strategy. Based in Los Angeles, Saban Films was established by Haim Saban, SCG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and is led by Bill Bromiley who serves as president, Shanan Becker, Chief Financial Officer and Ness Saban, Vice President of Business Development.
Since the company’s launch in 2014, Saban Films has released 26 films. The 2017 Saban Films slate includes: John Michael McDonagh’s War on Everyone starring Michael Peña, Alexander Skarsgård, Theo James, and Tessa Thompson; Colm McCarthy’s critically acclaimed apocalyptic thriller The Girl with All the Gifts starring Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine; Walter Hill’s The Assignment starring Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Anthony LaPaglia; and Jonathan Mostow’sThe Hunter’s Prayer starring Sam Worthington and Odeya Rush.
About Millennium Media
Founded in 1992 by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner - Millennium Media, which is best known for its franchise properties such as: The Expendables, Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, and Rambo, has generated over $1.2 billion in worldwide box office revenues since 2011. The company has a film library of nearly 300 titles, one of the largest independent film libraries in the world, and produces, finances and handles international sales for 5-8 star-driven movies per year, generally with budgets between $20 million and $80 million.
Image Credit: Above image is from Bloody Disgusting.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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