DUKE NICHOLSON, WILLIAM H. MACY, TIFFANY HADDISH AND STEPHEN DORFF STAR IN MATT SUKKAR’S ACTION CRIME THRILLER “THE DEPUTY” FROM CANTON ENTERTAINMENT AND “NARCOS” CO-CREATOR CARLO BERNARD
Highland Film Group Handling Worldwide Sales
Duke Nicholson (Jordan Peele’s Us), William H. Macy (Fargo, Magnolia, Boogie Nights), Tiffany Haddish (Universal’s Girls Trip, Netflix’s Bad Trip, Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter), Stephen Dorff (New Line’s Blade, Universal’s Public Enemies), Jake Weary (Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada) and Julia Fox (A24’s Uncut Gems) are set to star in the action crime thriller The Deputy, it was announced today. The film is directed by Matt Sukkar in his feature directorial debut and written by “Narcos” co-creator and co-writer Carlo Bernard (Universal’s The Great Wall; Walt Disney Pictures’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; Netflix’s “Narcos,” “Narcos: Mexico” and “Griselda”) based on the novel The Deputy by acclaimed writer Victor Gischler (Gun Monkeys).
The Deputy is being produced by David Lipper and Robert A. Daly Jr under their Latigo Films banner (Joe Baby starring Harvey Keitel and Ron Perlman, Freud’s Last Session starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode), Mark Canton (300, “Power Universe”), and Dorothy Canton (Arthur The King, “Power Universe”) of Canton Entertainment, and Ryan Winterstern of Applewood Studios (Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, Blood for Dust starring Kit Harington).
They are joining Hicham Benkirane, who sourced and developed the project, and is producing via his HBK F.C. banner (Interstate starring Asia Argento, Murder City starring Mike Colter), alongside Brendan Thomas (The Cat and The Moon) and Sukkar. The film is executive produced by Victor Gischler, Carlo Bernard, Tiffany Haddish, William H. Macy, Daisy Burnham and Highland Film Group.
Highland Film Group is co-financing the action crime thriller and handling worldwide rights, launching sales at the Marché du Film in Cannes. Production is set to start in September in the American South.
“We are excited to be working with seasoned filmmakers with such impressive credentials as Mark Canton and Carlo Bernard. We are confident that The Deputy will deliver all the action and thrills Victor Gischler infused in his novel. And it’s wonderful to be supporting Duke Nicholson as he launches his career – we believe he has a big future!” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “We have a brilliant ensemble cast led by director Matt Sukkar, who will shine in this high-stakes thriller that follows a lone deputy fighting against a maze of betrayal and secrets, in the vein of Coen Brothers’ best movies. We can’t wait to bring this unique story to life through the collaboration of these talented artists,” added Highland Film Group COO Delphine Perrier.
Part-time Deputy Toby Sawyer (Duke Nicholson) is jolted awake by Chief Krueger (William H. Macy) and assigned to guard a dead body until the coroner arrives. When the corpse mysteriously vanishes, Toby launches a frantic search and unwittingly discovers decades of wrongdoing…and several cops who have turned a blind eye, including Deputy Billy Banks (Stephen Dorff) who pressures Toby to ignore his findings. Only Deputy Amanda Jackson (Tiffany Haddish) appears trustworthy. Desperate to keep his job, Toby must unravel the town’s deep web of corruption before he and his career end up as dead as the missing cadaver.
Duke Nicholson first rose to prominence in Jordan Peele’s psychological horror film Us starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss. Additional credits include Nicholas Jarecki’s Crisis starring Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lily, Greg Kinnear and Michelle Rodriguez and Traveling Light starring Danny Huston, Stephen Dorff and Olivia d’Abo. He can next be seen in Tony Kaye’s The Trainer with his co-stars Stephen Dorff and Julia Fox and Julian Schnabel’s Hand of Dante starring Gal Gadot, Oscar Isaac and Jason Momoa.
Emmy and SAG Award winning and Oscar nominated actor William H. Macy has assembled an impressive film and TV resume including Gramercy Pictures’ Fargo, for which he earned an Oscar nomination, Magnolia and Boogie Nights both written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Universal’s Jurassic Park II, Universal’s Seabiscuit, A24’s Room and most recently Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Macy’s television credits include NBC’s medical drama “E.R.,” Showtime’s comedy/drama “Shameless” for which he won both Emmy and SAG Awards for Best Actor, and TNT’s “Door to Door” which he starred in as well as co-wrote, winning two Emmy Awards.
Tiffany Haddish is an Emmy, Grammy, and NAACP Image Award winner who has established herself as one of the most sought-after comedic actresses and performers worldwide. Haddish will next be seen in Bad Boys 4, which Sony Pictures will release on June 7. Most recently, she starred in Apple TV+’s “The After Party”; Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter opposite Oscar Isaac; Disney’s feature, Haunted Mansion; Lionsgate’s feature The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent opposite Nicolas Cage; MGM’s feature adaptation Landscape with Invisible Hand which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival; Universal Pictures’ Easter Sunday; and Back on the Strip which Haddish produced. Additionally, Haddish lends her voice to the animated series “Solar Opposites” and “Tuca & Bertie,” which garnered her a Gotham Award nomination as executive producer. Haddish is well known for her critically acclaimed performance in Girls Trip, her Emmy-nominated and Grammy-winning comedy special “Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah,” and the Emmy-nominated standup comedy series “Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready” on Netflix. Haddish made history by becoming the first Black female stand-up comedian to host “Saturday Night Live,” which earned her the 2018 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.”
Stephen Dorff made his screen debut in John G. Avildsen’s The Power of One starring Morgan Freeman, John Gielgud, and Fay Masterson. Dorff went on to amass an impressive list of screen credits including New Line’s Blade with Wesley Snipes, John Waters’ comedy Cecil B. Demented, Blood and Wine starring Jack Nicholson, Relativity Media’s Immortals, City of Industry opposite Harvey Keitel, Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, the Mike Figgis thriller Cold Creek Manor starring Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone and Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere. Dorff next teamed with Somewhere producer G. Mac Brown on Michael Mann’s gangster drama for Universal Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Subsequently, Dorff starred in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel Leatherface with Lili Taylor and was most recently seen in Traveling Light produced by Jeremy Thomas, The Price We Pay with Emile Hirsch and the Sundance title Divinity.
Jake Weary is starring opposite Jacob Elordi and Richard Gere in Paul Schrader’s upcoming Oh, Canada, currently in competition at Cannes. He recently starred in the TNT hit TV series “Animal Kingdom,” Neon’s How to Blow up a Pipeline, and appeared in the hit horror film It Follows.
Julia Fox, the Italian-American actress, New York Times bestselling author, and artist, is a dynamic force in entertainment and creativity. Fox is currently making her hosting debut on her sustainability-focused fashion competition series “OMGFashun!” Following this, she takes on the role of the female lead opposite Marlon Wayans in Universal’s highly anticipated psychological thriller Him, directed by Justin Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele. Reuniting with Steven Soderbergh after her role in No Sudden Move, Julia stars in the upcoming thriller Presence alongside Lucy Liu, the film was recently acquired by Neon after premiering at Sundance.
Highland Film Group’s current slate also includes Renny Harlin’s crime thriller The Postcard Killer starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Famke Janssen; William Eubank’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth; Adam Cooper’s crime thriller Sleeping Dogs starring Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan; Rod Blackhurst’s Tribeca Film Festival and Deauville title Blood For Dust starring Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas; Allan Ungar’s action comedy London Calling starring Josh Duhamel and Jeremy Ray Taylor; Felipe Vargas’ high-concept horror film Rosario starring Emeraude Toubia and David Dastmalchian; the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut produced by Brad Fuller and starring Kate Mara and Laurence Fishburne; Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel; Simon West’s action comedy Old Guy starring Christoph Waltz, Lucy Liu and Cooper Hoffman; and Benjamin Brewer’s survival action-thriller Arcadian starring Nicolas Cage, which had its world premiere at SXSW.
Nicholson is repped by Management Production Entertainment and Deborah Klein at Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Macy is repped by IAG and Atlas Artists; Haddish is repped by UTA and Brillstein; Dorff is repped by Atlas Artists; Weary is repped by Gersh; Fox is repped by WME and Framework; Sukkar is repped by Luber Roklin, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes, Krintzman, et al.
