SABAN FILMS ADOPTS “TWIST” STARRING MICHAEL CAINE, LENA HEADEY & RITA ORA FROM ARCLIGHT FILMS

Saban Films announced on Nov. 25 that they have acquired North American rights to Martin Owen’s (Killers Anonymous, L.A. Slasher) Twist.  From a script penned by John Wrathall (Good, The Liability), the modern take on Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist stars Academy Award® Winner Michael Caine (The Quiet American, The Dark Knight series), Golden Globe® Award nominee Lena Headey (“Game of Thrones,” Fighting with My Family), Rita Ora (Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Fifty Shades of Grey franchise), Raff Law (Repo Men) and Sophie Simnett (“The Lodge,” “Daybreak”).  Twist is produced by Noel Clarke and Jason Maza for Unstoppable along with Pure Grass Films’ Ben Grass and Knuckle Sandwich’s Matt Williams.  The film is co-produced by Sky. Saban Films will release the film theatrically Q1 of 2021.

Set in contemporary London, Twist follows a gifted graffiti artist who is lured into a street gang headed by a father figure, Fagin, who plans a series of audacious art thefts.

Arclight Films’ Chairman Gary Hamilton states, “Twist boasts a really fantastic cast that crosses all generations so we are thrilled for new audiences young and old to enjoy this wonderful interpretation on Oliver Twist’s classic story. We are overjoyed to be working with our friends at Saban again – they are the perfect partner to bring this film to US audiences.”

Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley commented, “Martin Owens seamlessly transports Charles Dickens’ timeless characters into the present with this ensemble cast, who injects a new energy into the classic tale.”

Bill Bromiley and Jonathan Saba negotiated the deal for Saban Films along with John Fremes from Arclight Films.  Arclight Films is handling worldwide rights.  Financiers include MEP Capital, Blue Rider, Arclight and Lipsync Productions.

This marks Saban Films’ fourth acquisition during the American Film Market with previous titles including: Nicol Paone’s Friendsgiving with Malin Akerman, Kat Dennings, Chelsea Peretti, Jane Seymour and Aisha Tyler; Jason Lei Howden’s Guns Akimbo starring Daniel Radcliffe; and John Suits’ Breach starring Bruce Willis.

Saban Films continues to grow its presence in the industry, remaining active in the acquisition, production and distribution space. The company’s successes have run the gamut from critically acclaimed theatrical films such as The Homesman starring Hilary Swank, to two of the biggest Fathom events with horror icon and heavy metal mastermind Rob Zombie’s 31 in 2016 and 3 From Hell earlier this month, as well as Kevin Smith’s highly successful Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, the sequel to the 2001 comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back which the company partnered on after coming onboard at script stage. Its upcoming slate includes: Steven C. Miller’s Line of Duty; Will Forbes’ John Henry starring Terry Crews and Ludacris and executive produced by Matthew Antoun; and Darren Lynn Bousman’s Death of Me starring Maggie Q and Luke Hemsworth.

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 Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and Ness Saban, Vice President of Business Development.

ABOUT ARCLIGHT FILMS

Arclight Films is one of the world’s leading international sales companies for theatrical, television and home entertainment.  Arclight Films has sold over 300 motion pictures including the Best Picture Oscar® winner Crash, Golden Globe® Best Picture Nominee Bobby and Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto and Ethan Hawke and the recent Oscar® nominated feature First Reformed (for Best Original Screenplay).

Arclight Films’ slate includes the Australian the action thriller Long Gone Heroes starring Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, and Maggie Q, Twist currently in production and starring Michael Caine and Here are the Young Men starring Travis Fimmel, Dean Charles Chapman, Finn Cole and Anya Taylor-Joy, the true-life prison break story, Escape From Pretoria, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber, the sci-fi thriller Possessor starring Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the 2019 Berlin Film Festival official selection Öndög from Berlin Golden Bear winning director Wang Quan’an, and the big budget Chinese co-production Killer 10 to be directed by Phillip Noyce.

The company’s recent films include the highly anticipated Hotel Mumbai starring Armie Hammer, Dev Patel, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, and Jason Isaacs, directed by Anthony Maras released in the US by Bleecker Street on March 22nd, the powerhouse actioner Triple Threat starring Chinese stars Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and Tiger Chen, and the Vietnamese action thriller Furie both films released by Well Go USA in March 2019, and the successful biopic Jungle starring Daniel Radcliffe released by eOne.

Arclight’s past films include 2016 Official Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection Dog Eat Dog starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, The Confirmation starring Clive Owen and Maria Bello, directed by Academy Award-winner Bob Nelson (Nebraska), 2016 Sundance Official Selection Frank & Lola starring Imogen Poots and Michael Shannon, Predestination starring Ethan Hawke released through Sony Pictures, Last Knights starring Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman, Paper Planes starring Sam Worthington, and Shangri-La Suite starring Emily Browning and Luke Grimes.

Arclight Films additionally encompasses subsidiary labels Darclight Films, the edgy genre-driven division of the company whose films include the worldwide horror hits Wolf Creek, Wolf Creek 2 and action thriller Bait 3D (the highest grossing Australian film in the history of Chinese cinema), and Easternlight, a specialty arm showcasing Asian cinema with the largest film library of any non-Asian-based indie film label. Films sold under the Easternlight banner include the worldwide blockbuster Forbidden Kingdom starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, 14 Blades starring Donnie Yen, and legendary auteur Chen Kaige’s Sacrifice.

The latest additions to Easternlight includes Guardians Of The Tomb starring Kellen Lutz and Bingbing Li, Snow Girl And The Dark Crystal starring Bingbing Li, Wolf Warrior starring Wu Jing (which opened #1 at the Chinese Box Office, earning more than $32.5M in one weekend) Outcast starring Nicolas Cage, Special Id Starring Donnie Yen, and Badges Of Fury.

Arclight Films maintains a presence at all major motion picture and television festivals and markets with offices in Los Angeles, Sydney, Hong Kong, Beijing and Toronto.

ABOUT SKY

With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 31,000 employees help connect our customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gomorrah we launched Sky Studios and now plan to more than double our investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years.

Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, it is our responsibility to do it safely – that’s why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. Our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, we’re on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re a proud employer – recognized by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.

Source:The DDA Group and Arclight Films