Vertical Entertainment has acquired US rights to Ben Jagger’s (Gravitas Venture’s Corbin Nash, The Paddy Lincoln Gang) highly anticipated J-horror film Room 203 from Voltage Pictures.
Vertical Entertainment will release the film theatrically and on demand. Peter Jarowey and Tony Piantedosi of Vertical Entertainment negotiated the deal with Jonathan Deckter of Voltage Pictures on behalf of the Ammo Inc and Ammo Entertainment, who produced and financed the film.
“We’re thrilled to be venturing into the J-horror genre with Room 203 and hope to do the original Japanese novel justice through a theatrical retelling of the tale,” said Tony Piantedosi, SVP of Acquisitions at Vertical Entertainment.
“The J-horror genre has produced some of the most iconic and successful horror films of the past 20 years, and we’re glad our friends at Vertical agree that Room 203 absolutely delivers on the well-crafted thrills of its predecessors,” said Jonathan Deckter, President and COO, Voltage Pictures. “We know they will extract the full potential of this formidable film.”
Adapted from Nanami Kamon’s Japanese novel published by Kobunsha, the English-language J-Horror follows two female roommates who are tormented by the vengeful spirits dwelling in their gothic-style, rented apartment, which contains an ornate centerpiece.
The cult genre, also known as Japanese Horror, is identified by its suspenseful, folk-religious themes and focus on psychological horror, and its English-language remakes have gone on to become global box office phenomenons: The Ring starring Naomi Watts took over $250m worldwide, and The Grudge starring Sarah Michelle Gellar took over $187m worldwide.
The screenplay is by John Poliquin (Shudder’s Spiral), Jagger and Nick Richey (Low Low). The cast features rising talent Francesca Xuereb (Murmur, Forever & Always), Viktoria Vinyarska (“The Real Drakoolvas”, Highway to Havasu) and Eric Wiegand (Hulu’sOutsiders, “Boys Will Be Bastards”).
Room 203 is produced by Ammo Entertainment’s Annmarie Sairrino and Ammo Inc.’s Moeko Suzuki, alongside Kat McPhee, Ben Anderson and Eric Gibson. Voltage’s Babacar Diene is executive producer.
ABOUT VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT
Founded in 2012, Vertical Entertainment has become a leading global independent distributor releasing films across all mediums. Vertical’s unique combination of full-service marketing and highly effective sales services provides collaborative solutions for filmmakers, as the company leverages creative and platform relationships to maximize revenue streams from all content providers.
Current and upcoming Vertical Entertainment releases include John Pollono’s directorial debut Small Engine Repair starring Jon Bernthal, Shea Whigham, Jordana Spiro and Ciara Bravo; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Joe Bell starring Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller and Connie Britton; Castille Landon’s After We Fell, the third installment of the After series starring Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin; and romantic comedy The Hating Game starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell.
Vertical’s past successes include Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth, starring Nicole Beharie in her Best Actress Gotham Independent Film Award-winning performance and four Independent Spirit Award nominations including Best Female Lead and Best First Feature, and NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture; Best Picture Golden Globe Award nominee Music, directed by Sia and starring Best Actress Golden Globe Award nominee Kate Hudson; Eytan Rockaway’s Lansky starring Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington; the Toronto Film Festival Midnight Madness breakout Shadow in the Cloud, directed by Roseanne Liang and starring Chloe Grace Moretz; The Informer, with Andrea Di Stefano directing the star-studded cast of Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Clive Owen, and Ana de Armas; Robin’s Wish, the revelatory account of iconic comedian Robin Williams’ final days, directed by Tylor Norwood; Tate Taylor’s Ava with John Malkovich, Geena Davis, Joan Chen, Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain and Yes, God, Yes, directed by Karen Maine and starring Natalia Dyer and Timothy Simons. Chris Kelly’s Other People, with Molly Shannon in her Independent Spirit Award-winning performance; and Babak Anvari’s BAFTA and British Independent Film Award-winning thriller Under the Shadow.
ABOUT VOLTAGE PICTURES
Voltage Pictures, established in 2005, is a privately held, film and television production, financing and sales entity. Voltage has won six Academy Awards including Best Picture for The Hurt Locker, and three Academy Awards for Dallas Buyers Club.
The current Voltage sales slate includes the highly anticipated action-thriller Chase starring Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby and Ethan Embry, the action heist-thriller The Yacht, starring Ruby Rose, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Frank Grillo, acclaimed blockbuster director Renny Harlin’s horror-thriller Refuge starring Jason Flemyng and Raza Jaffrey, the neo-noir art thriller American Night starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jeremy Piven, and the Japanese horror Room 203.
Voltage represented worldwide rights on After, based on the internationally best-selling series of books by Anna Todd, that debuted number one at the box office in 17 international territories including Germany and Italy when released in April 2019, grossing over $70m worldwide. The highly anticipated sequel, After We Collided, opened in September 2020 and grossed nearly $50m worldwide. The third film in the franchise, After We Fell opened in select territories on September 2021, including a record-breaking US release through Fathom, and the fourth film After Ever Happy is currently in post-production after wrapping principal photography in December 2020.
Voltage also produced the blockbuster comedy I Feel Pretty starring Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski, and Naomi Campbell, which generated nearly $100m in worldwide box office. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, Jim Parsons, and John Malkovich premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim.
