NEEDLE STABS LIGHTNING ENTERTAINMENT
Lightning Entertainment has bolstered its EFM slate with the addition of John V. Soto’s supernatural revenge thriller NEEDLE. In a deal negotiated between Lightning co-President Richard S. Guardian and Senior Corporate Counsel Megan Holstein with production company Filmscope’s Dee Kitcher, the Santa Monica-based sales company will represent all rights worldwide exclusive of Australia and New Zealand. Buyers will see promotional footage when the film is introduced at the Berlin market event.
Co-Written by Soto and Anthony Egan and Directed by Soto (“Crush”), NEEDLE is a contemporary tale of terror with a savage gothic twist.
When college student Ben Rutherford (Michael Dorman) inherits a strange 18th Century mechanical box from his late father, he cannot imagine the dark powers unleashed by the device. The theft of the machine leads to the deaths of Ben’s closest friends in a series of uniquely horrifying accidents. As Ben and his estranged brother Marcus (Travis Fimmel) set out on a mission to find the thief and put an end to the horrors, they realize that it only a matter of time before they are marked as the next victims.
“John impressed me with the storytelling, pacing, and visual style of his first feature, ‘Crush’. After reading ‘Needle’, I was keen to get into business with this new young director who has such a terrific take on thriller genre.”, says Guardian. “Our distributors are in for a real treat with this film. I was fortunate that John recognized my passion for his work.” Adds Soto, “Richard truly understood what I wanted to achieve with ‘Needle’. I was impressed with Lightning’s organization, reputation and their overall passion for film. Naturally we are very excited that they will be bringing my latest film to market.”
Along with Dorman (“Triangle”, “Daybreakers”) and Fimmel (“Restraint”, TV’s “The Beast”), NEEDLE also stars Tahyna Tozzi (“X-Men Origins”, “Beautiful”), Ben Mendelsohn (“Beautiful Kate”, “Australia”), Trilby Glover (“Righteous Kill”, TV’s “Crash”) and John Jarratt (“Rogue”, “Wolf Creek”). Besides a strong cast, Soto also recruited an outstanding team behind the camera including Cinematographer Stephen Windon (“Fast & the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift”, “Deep Blue Sea”, Spielberg’s “Pacific”), Editor Jason Ballantine (“Prom Night”, “Wolf Creek”) and Composer, Jamie “Urban Legend” Blanks.
NEEDLE was Produced by Deidre Kitcher and Executive Produced by Sean Baguley, with the majority of the film’s budget sourced from private investors.
In addition to NEEDLE, Lightning’s EFM lineup includes the Market Premiere of Jonathan Hensleigh’s THE IRISHMAN, starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer, and Christopher Walken, the Market Premiere of Dean Francis’ ROAD TRAIN, starring Sophie Lowe and Xavier Samuel, plus Carlos Carrerra’s BACKYARD/EL TRAPATIO, Mexico’s submission to the Academy for Foreign Language Film nomination starring Ana de la Reguera, and Will Frear’s COACH starring Hugh Dancy, Liane Baliban, and Mamie Gummer.
For further information contact: Will Weissman, wweissman@lightning-ent.com