Following its world premiere at this year's virtual Sundance Film Festival, Riley Stearns' Dual has been acquired for US distribution by RLJE Films.
Dual will have a theatrical release sometime this year. We have the official press release with additional details below, and in case you missed it, read Heather Wixson's interview with Stearns, along with the rest of our Sundance 2022 coverage!
Press Release: XYZ Films, CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group closed the deal with RLJE Films last night in a competitive bidding situation. XYZ is also handling world rights outside the US.
The film is slated for a theatrical release in 2022. XYZ Films and RLJE Films previously collaborated on the successful theatrical release of Sundance film MANDY starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Panos Cosmatos.
DUAL stars Karen Gillan (JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE), Aaron Paul (“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Film” and “Westworld”) and Beulah Koale (“Hawaii Five-O”).
Riley Stearns directed and produced alongside XYZ Films and Resolute Films and Entertainment, with Film Service Finland providing production services.
The film marks the latest in a partnership with XYZ and Lee Kim and his Resolute Films and Entertainment, which just entered into a first-look deal with XYZ.
XYZ financed the film through its fund backed by Helsinki-based IPR.VC in collaboration with Bondit Media Capital and Head Gear Films. The film also received support from Business Finland and Film Tampere and marked the first Hollywood production to shoot entirely in Finland.
DUAL is about a woman (Gillan) who, upon receiving a terminal diagnosis, opts for a cloning procedure to ease her loss on her friends and family. When she makes a sudden and miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone decommissioned fail and lead to a court-mandated duel to the death.
“DUAL was a film we were targeting from the beginning of the Sundance Film Festival and it exceeded our expectations,” said Mark Ward, RLJE Films’ Chief Acquisitions Officer. “We are happy to be working with our partners at XYZ Films yet again and can’t wait to release the film later this year.”
“Shooting DUAL with XYZ during a global pandemic will forever be an experience I look back on with a tremendous amount of pride,” said Stearns. “I’m beyond thrilled to enter the next stage of this journey with the team at RLJE Films and I can’t wait for audiences to see a film which we all deeply care for.”
XYZ Films’ titles include THE RAID franchise, 2017 Sundance winner I DON'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE, and Panos Cosmatos' psychedelic revenge thriller MANDY. XYZ’s recent productions include STOWAWAY, Joe Penna’s sci-fi thriller starring Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette, and Gareth Evans’ action thriller HAVOC starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker.
XYZ’s Sundance 2022 slate includes PIGGY, based on the Goya-winning short from management client Carlota Pereda and SOMETHING IN THE DIRT from flagship filmmakers and XYZ management clients Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.
Stearns is repped at CAA and Grandview.
ABOUT RLJE FILMSRLJE Films’ recent and upcoming features include David Oyelowo’s directorial debut The Water Man; the intense No Man of God starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby from director Amber Sealey; Sion Sono’s 2021 Sundance Film Festival premiere Prisoners of the Ghostland starring Nicolas Cage and Sofia Boutella; and the apocalyptic holiday dramedy from writer/director Camille Griffin, Silent Night, starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Roman Griffin Davis. us.rljentertainment.com
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