HIGHLAND FILM GROUP HANDLING WORLDWIDE SALES FOR THE VAMPIRE FILM “SLAYERS” STARRING THOMAS JANE, ABIGAIL BRESLIN, MALIN AKERMAN, KARA HAYWARD AND LYDIA HEARST
THE AVENUE ACQUIRES DOMESTIC RIGHTS
Leading Los Angeles based sales company Highland Film Group has come on board to handle worldwide rights to the comedy-horror film Slayers starring Thomas Jane (New Line Cinema’s Boogie Nights, Twentieth Century Fox’s Academy Award-nominated The Thin Red Line), Academy Award-nominated Abigail Breslin (Fox Searchlight Pictures’ Little Ms. Sunshine, August: Osage County with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, Columbia Pictures’ Zombieland franchise), Malin Akerman (Warner Bros.’ Watchmen and Rock of Ages), Kara Hayward (Academy Award-nominated Moonrise Kingdom, Academy Award-winningManchester By The Sea) and Lydia Hearst (Saban Films’ The Haunting of Sharon Tate, Between Worlds starring Nicolas Cage and Franka Potente). Slayers is directed by K. Asher Levin and written by Levin and Zack Imbrogno.
Slayers is produced by first-time producer Breslin alongside Daniel Cummings, Levin and Robert Dean. The film is executive produced by BondIt Media Capital & Buffalo 8 Productions’ Grady Craig, Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor; Malin Akerman; Thomas Jane and Courtney Lauren Penn via Renegade Films; Jarnell Stokes; Josh Monkarsh and Walk Like A Duck. Highland Film Group will introduce the completed film to buyers at the upcoming AFM, with the company’s domestic distribution arm, The Avenue, acquiring domestic rights and targeting a 2022 release.
“I’m beyond thrilled to work with the visionary team at Highland and The Avenue, supporting my unique vision for this insane spin on classic horror!” said writer/director K. Asher Levin
“I think Slayers is going to be a vampire movie with a big bite and I’m proud to be a part of it,” noted Thomas Jane.
“We are excited to introduce a film with an original twist on a classic monster tale with such a talented cast to international buyers. The vampire genre is always compelling and it’s thrilling to see them hold their own in the age of social media, having them go fang to fang with superstar influencers,” said JJ Caruth, President of Domestic Marketing and Distribution for The Avenue. “Slayers is made in the tradition of beloved horror-comedies such as From Dusk Till Dawn and Shaun of the Dead. The Mist’s Thomas Jane and Zombieland’s Abigail Breslin are the perfect pair to bring this film to the screen,” added Highland Film Group COO Delphine Perrier.
Elliot Jones (Thomas Jane) has made it his life’s mission to search for the vampire who murdered his teenage daughter. Jones gets his shot at revenge when The Stream Team, a group of trend-setting social media superstars including party-girl Jules (Abigail Breslin) and Gen-Z pro-gamer Flynn (Kara Hayward), is offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet with reclusive billionaire Beverly Rektor (Malin Akerman) at her multimillion-dollar vacation compound. However, the group quickly learns it’s not an evening of fun and games, but instead a night of survival when they discover their host is a descendant of a long line of vicious blood-suckers and they are trapped in her house of horrors! Can Jones help them survive or will they become just another short-lived trending story?
Thomas Jane starred in New Line Cinema’s Boogie Nights and Twentieth Century Fox’s Academy Award-nominated The Thin Red Line. He played Carter Blake in Warner Bros.’ Deep Blue Sea alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Stellan Skarsgard and portrayed David Drayton in MGM’s The Mist written and directed by Frank Darabont and based on the Stephen King novella.
Abigail Breslin was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Olive in Fox Searchlight Pictures’ Little Miss Sunshine. She gained new notoriety in her role as Little Rock in Columbia Pictures’ Zombieland franchise with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone. Her upcoming projects include Saturday at the Starlight alongside Denise Richards and Canyon Del Muerto with Val Kilmer and Tom Felton.
Malin Akerman shot to stardom for the breakthrough role of Silk Spectre II in Warner Bros.’ Watchmen, based on the popular comic book and directed by Zack Snyder. On TV, she played the unforgettable Lara Axelrod on Showtime’s hit series “Billions” and starred in ABC’s “Trophy Wife” opposite Bradley Whitford and Marcia Gay Harden. She also appeared in 20th Century Fox’s 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden, Couples Retreat, The Heartbreak Kid, Rock of Ages, and Rampage, among many others.
Kara Hayward is best known for her role as Suzy in the Wes Anderson’s Academy Award-nominated Moonrise Kingdom. She starred as Iris Deerborne in Samuel Goldwyn Films’ To the Stars. She can next be seen in Apple TV+’s “Roar.”
Lydia Hearst is known for her roles in horror films including Saban Films’ The Haunting of Sharon Tate, Between Worlds starring Nicolas Cage and Franka Potente and Tara Subkoff’s #Horror starring Chloë Sevigny, Timothy Hutton, Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning and Balthazar Getty.
ABOUT HIGHLAND FILM GROUP
Check out the new and improved website: https://highlandfilmgroup.com/
Led by founding partners Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Highland Film Group (HFG) is an independent worldwide sales, film financing, production and distribution company. Launched in 2010, HFG has had success across a wide range of film genres and platforms, building a reputation for handling high-octane films in the action/thriller/horror space, focusing on cast, director, and filmmaker driven content.
HFG’s diversified production and sales slate includes Andy Fickman’s One True Loves starring Phillipa Soo, Simu Liu and Luke Bracey; Renny Harlin’s The Misfits starring Pierce Brosnan, Nick Cannon and Tim Roth; Allan Ungar’s Bandit starring Josh Duhamel, Mel Gibson and Elisha Cuthbert; Stephan Rick’s The Good Neighbor starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Luke Kleintank; Mauro Borelli’sWarhunt starring Mickey Rourke; Edward Drake’s Gasoline Alley starring Bruce Willis, Luke Wilson and Devon Sawa; Herbert James Winterstern’s Supercell starring Alec Baldwin; Mark Neveldine’s Panama starring Cole Hauser and Mel Gibson; Randall Emmett’s Wash Me In The River starring Robert De Niro, Jack Huston and John Malkovich; Andrew Baird’s One Way starring Colson ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ Baker and Travis Fimmel; John D. Eraklis’ and Tara Whitaker’s Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk with the voices of will.i.am, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg, Whoopi Goldberg and Howie Mandel; Mark Earl Burman’s Ambush starring Aaron Eckhart; Avan Joglia’s Door Mouse starring Hayley Law, Famke Janssen and Keith Powers; Andrew Baird’s Zone 414 starring Guy Pearce, Matilda Lutz and Travis Fimmel; The Tiger Rising starring Queen Latifah and Dennis Quaid; Randall Emmett’s Midnight in the Switchgrass starring Bruce Willis, Megan Fox, and Emile Hirsch; and Petr Jakl’s Medieval starring Ben Foster and Michael Caine.
Previous titles include Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level starring Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson and Frank Grillo; Lin Oeding’s thriller Bravenstarring Jason Momoa; Scott Mann’s Final Score starring Dave Bautista, and Pierce Brosnan; Berlin, I Love You with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, and Jenna Dewan Tatum; Vaughn Stein’s Terminal starring Margot Robbie.
ABOUT THE AVENUE
Launched in 2020, The Avenue is HFG’s US distribution division and handles all aspects of distribution, from theatrical through home entertainment to television/SVOD. The Avenue is dedicated to partnering with filmmakers and leading them into innovative ways of marketing and distribution so their stories can reach the widest audience. The Avenue has also signed an agreement with Paramount Home Entertainment to handle Blu-ray™, DVD, VOD, and Digital distribution. Films released under The Avenue label will be a combination of film titles from Highland Film Group as well as third party acquisitions.
The first feature film title released under the new stand-alone distribution banner was the martial arts sci-fi film Jiu Jitsu starring Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) and Frank Grillo (Boss Level, Avengers: Endgame). The film was released in November 2020. The Avenue also released Renny Harlin’s The Misfits, starring Pierce Brosnan, Nick Cannon, and Tim Roth, which had a theatrical joint release with Paramount Pictures in June 2021. Upcoming titles include Dallas Jackson’s action-thriller The Systemstarring Tyrese Gibson, Terrence Howard, Jeremy Piven and Lil Yachty as well as HFG’s romance One True Loves starring Phillipa Soo, Simu Liu and Luke Bracey for director Andy Fickman.
