EXCLUSIVE: Concourse Media has boarded worldwide sales right ahead of the EFM to con/heist thriller The Smack, which has Oscar winners Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates and Marisa Tomei attached to star.
Based on Richard Lange’s 2017 novel, the story follows a down-on-his-luck conman (Affleck) who teams up with a casino waitress to execute a high-stakes con targeting a hidden cache of stolen U.S. military cash. “What starts off as an easy plan spirals into a deadly game of as they collide with dangerous criminals chasing the same score,” the synopsis reads.
David M. Rosenthal (The Perfect Guy) is helming the feature, which is aiming to shoot in New Jersey later this year.
The film, which was announced a few years ago with a slightly different cast and Mister Smith handling sales, is now due to be funded through Concourse’s sister company, Archetype Media Finance.
Rosenthal and Keith Kjarval wrote the script, adapting the novel. Unified Pictures’ Kjarval is producing alongside Sam Rockwell and Mark Berger of Play Hooky (Of Mice and Men) and Sugar Rush Pictures’ Andrea Bucko (Tin Soldier). Matthew Shreder and Kristin Harris will serve as executive producers. The film marks the third collaboration between Rosenthal and Keith Kjarval.
“With its razor-sharp writing and unforgettable characters, The Smack delivers an edgy take on the con thriller that’s designed to break through globally,” said Shreder of Concourse Media.
Affleck won the Academy Award for Manchester by the Sea; Tomei won her Academy Award for My Cousin Vinny; Bates won for Misery; and Rockwell won for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Unified Pictures just wrapped The Beast starring Samuel L. Jackson and Joel Kinnaman and directed by Renny Harlin. Sugar Rush Pictures’ most recent film, Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, is currently in wide release via Row K.
