EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of Cannes, Vertical has acquired North American rights to We Bury the Dead, a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Star Wars‘ Daisy Ridley and Brenton Thwaites (Titans).
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Zak Hilditch (1922), the film hasn’t been dated but is expected to be released next year.
The story unfolds after a catastrophic American military experiment results in mass casualties across Tasmania, as Ava (Ridley) joins a body retrieval unit to help identify the dead and search for her husband on the southern part of the island. As Ava makes her way south, across the ravaged landscape, she soon learns that some of the victims of the disaster are coming back to life.
The film most recently screened on closing night of the Atlanta Film Festival, after hitting SXSW and the Adelaide Film Festival. Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin) and Matt Whelan (Narcos) co-star.
On the acquistion, Vertical Partner Peter Jarowey said, “With a great cast led by Daisy Ridley and Brenton Thwaites, Zak has re-energized the zombie genre with We Bury the Dead. Next year, North American audiences will be on the edge of their seats watching this post-apocalyptic thriller.”
We Bury the Dead is a Penguin Empire production in partnership with Campfire Studios. Major production investment came from Screen Australia in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest and the WA Regional Screen Fund, with production financing provided by Peachtree Media Partners.
The film was produced by Kelvin Munro, Grant Sputore, Ross M. Dinerstein, Joshua Harris, and Mark Fasano. Exec producers included Nathan Klingher, Ford Corbett, D.J. Jiang, Nicholas Erickson, Sean Fannan, Ari Novak, Lee Broda, Ari Harrison, and Jeff Harrison.
Jarowey and SVP of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi repped Vertical in the deal, with UTA Independent Film Group repping the filmmakers.
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