Highland Film Group Launching Worldwide Sales in Cannes
Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Love & Friendship, Pearl Harbor) and Katherine McNamara (Disney+’s ”Shadowhunters,” 20th Century Fox’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure) are set to join the cast of shark survival action film White, it was announced today. Directed by horror maven Jake West (Evil Aliens), the film is written by Dan Schaffer, the writer and illustrator of the cult comic book series, Dogwitch.
The shark actioner is produced by Yariv Lerner (Lionsgate’s Rambo: Last Blood and Hellboy), Dominic Burns (Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot), Crawford Anderson-Dillon (Lionsgate’s 5lbs of Pressure) and Sky Morfopoulos (Aura’s Wildcat). White is executive produced by Kate Beckinsale, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Patrick Wintersgill, Kevin Glynn, Pauric Duffy and Hannah Leader.
Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights and co-financing the project.
Willa Harba, a struggling actress trying to catch her big break, is traveling overseas for a shoot with a self-obsessed star when their private jet crashes into the Pacific. Now the sole survivor, she’s stranded on a fractured wing with nothing but ocean around her. Her only lifeline is a satellite phone salvaged from the wreck – but when she calls for rescue, her demanding studio boss, Barbara (Kate Beckinsale), brushes her off. Instead, her signal is picked up by marine biologist Sam Swatek (Katherine McNamara), who delivers chilling news: Willa has crashed into the infamous White Shark Café, a stretch of ocean where great whites gather to feed.
Casting is currently underway for the role of Willa; principal photography is set to begin in this summer in Bulgaria, England and the U.S.
“White is an incredibly elevated and intense adventure for the ages, filled with tension, emotion and ferocious sharks!” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “We are delighted to be working with producer Yariv Lerner who continues to be a guiding force behind some of today’s most innovative action films. And with our wonderful cast led by Kate Beckinsale and Katherine McNamara, it’s the perfect addition to our Cannes slate,” added company COO Delphine Perrier.
Kate Beckinsale made her film debut in the 1993 romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Soon after, she became a household name – starring opposite Ben Affleck in the Academy Award-winning epic Pearl Harbor followed by her starring role in the beloved romantic comedy Serendipity that same year. Beckinsale next starred in several other films including The Last Days of Disco, Brokedown Palace, Underworld and Martin Scorsese’s Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. Other notable feature roles include starring in Jolt opposite Stanley Tucci and Bobby Cannavale, The Only Living Boy In New York, opposite Jeff Bridges, Callum Turner and Pierce Brosnan, and Whit Stillman’s Love and Friendship. For Love and Friendship, Beckinsale won Evening Standard Film and London Critics Circle Awards and was nominated for Critics Choice and Gotham Awards. On television, Beckinsale starred in the Amazon and ITV limited series “The Widow” followed by the Paramount+ limited series “Guilty Party.”
Katherine McNamara portrayed Clary Fray on Freeform’s supernatural drama series “Shadowhunters,” receiving a Teen Choice Award and a People’s Choice Award for her work. She starred in The CW’s western action series “Walker: Independence” as Abby Walker, which earned her a Critics Choice Super Award for Best Actress in an Action Series nomination. Additional credits include 20th Century Fox’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Maze Runner: The Death Cure, DC Comics’ superhero series “Arrow” and Paramount+’s post-apocalyptic miniseries “The Stand.”
Highland Film Group’s current slate also includes Lisette Feliciano’s Iron Jane starring Eiza Gonzalez and Brandon Sklenar; Neil Burger’s action thriller Barracuda starring Anthony Mackie and Dafne Keen; Justin Chadwick’s action spy-thriller The Mark starring Jessica Alba, Tom Hopper and Elsa Pataky; Martin Campbell‘s thriller Just Play Dead starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Green; The Black Demon: Atlantis starring Jack Kesy; Pierre Morel’s action thriller The Good Samaritan starring Daisy Ridley, Josh Duhamel and Sharlto Copley; the espionage action thriller Stratagem starring Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo and Brad Anderson’s psychological thriller Moral Capacity starring Dacre Montgomery, Diane Lane, Sofia Boutella and Tim Robbins.
Beckinsale is repped by Kleinberg Lange.
ABOUT HIGHLAND FILM GROUP
Led by founding partners Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Highland Film Group (HFG) is an award-winning global studio with end-to-end capabilities, driving films from development to release. HFG operates as a producer, financier, distributor and sales agent, with an in-house team that oversees global productions and acquisitions. Launched in 2010, HFG delivers standout films across a wide range of genres and platforms, building a reputation for producing high-octane films in the action, thriller and horror space. In 2020, the studio expanded into U.S. distribution with the successful launch of The Avenue, HFG’s dedicated label managing all release windows, from theatrical through home entertainment to television, SVOD and AVOD.
HFG’s diversified production and sales slate includes William Eubank’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth released on 1,300 screens in February 2024 and surged to the #1 spot on Netflix in the US; Benjamin Brewer’s survival action-thriller Arcadian starring Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage, official selection at SXSW; Adam Cooper’s crime thriller Sleeping Dogs starring Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan which took the #1 spot on Hulu in the U.S. last year; Adrian Grünberg’s shark actioner The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas which claimed the #1 spot on Amazon’s streaming rankings for seven consecutive days following its theatrical release in 2023; the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut produced by Brad Fuller and starring Kate Mara and Laurence Fishburne, world premiere at SXSW; Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel; Adrian Grünberg’s action thriller Protector starring Milla Jovovich and Justin Chadwick’s action thriller Sierra Madre starring Kiefer Sutherland.
New projects include Neil Burger’s action thriller Barracuda starring Anthony Mackie and Dafne Keen; Justin Chadwick’s action spy-thriller The Mark starring Jessica Alba, Tom Hopper and Elsa Pataky; Martin Campbell‘s thriller Just Play Dead starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Green; Brad Anderson’s psychological thriller Moral Capacity starring Dacre Montgomery, Diane Lane, Sofia Boutella and Tim Robbins; the espionage action thriller Stratagem starring Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo; Pierre Morel’s action thriller The Good Samaritan starring Daisy Ridley and the acclaimed cyber heist thriller LifeHack from producer Timur Bekmambetov, official selection at SXSW and the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Previous titles include Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level starring Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson and Frank Grillo; Lin Oeding’s thriller Braven starring 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, and Vaughn Stein’s Terminal starring Margot Robbie and Simon Pegg.
