EXCLUSIVE: Open Road Films has acquired North American rights to Gerard Butler action thriller Kandahar in a splashy eight-figure deal (low teens, we understand).The G-BASE, Thunder Road, Capstone Studios and MBC Studios feature reunites Butler and director Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen, Greenland) in the story of Tom Harris (Butler), an undercover CIA operative, stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan.
After his mission is exposed, he must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding elite enemy forces and foreign spies tasked with hunting them down.Also starring are Navid Negahban (Homeland), Ali Fazal (Victoria & Abdul), Travis Fimmel (Vikings), and Bollywood star Elnaaz Norouzi (Sacred Games).Screenplay comes from Mitchell LaFortune, based on his own experiences as a military intelligence officer during the Snowden leaks.
The film was among the first major U.S. productions to shoot in the AlUla region of Saudi Arabia. Pic is now being lined up for for a wide domestic theatrical release in 2023.CAA and Capstone Global negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.
Matthew Sidari negotiated and closed the deal on behalf of Open Road Films.Written by Mitchell LaFortune and Waugh, the movie is produced by Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk, Brendon Boyea, G-BASE’s Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Capstone’s Christian Mercuri, MBC Studios’ Ali Jaafar and Scott LaStaiti.
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