Brainstorm Media has acquired North American rights for "Nightride," a dark humored, action-packed thriller from BAFTA-nominated helmer Stephen Fingleton ("The Survivalist"), starring Moe Dunford ("Vikings," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre") and Joana Ribeiro ("The Man Who Killed Don Quixote").
The deal, which was handled by UTA Independent Film Group, will see Brainstorm releasing the film in select theaters and on demand next spring.
"Nightride" is set in Belfast over the course of a single night, and follows a smalltime dealer, Budge, as he tries to pull one last deal with cash borrowed from a dangerous loan shark. When the handover goes terribly wrong, Budge finds himself in a race against the clock to get a hold of his missing product and find a new buyer before the loan shark tracks him down. Irish scribe Ben Conway ("Hunter's Fall") penned the script.
"We are thrilled to be working again with Pulsar on another stellar film," said Brainstorm's head of distribution, Michelle Shwarzstein. "‘Nightride' is an expertly crafted, edge-of-your-seat thriller that we can't wait to show audiences in North America."
Pulsar Content, the Paris-based sales vehicle headed by Gilles Sousa and Marie Garrett, has also sold the film in major international territories, including Vertigo for the U.K., Programstore for France, Lusomundo for Portugal, Mauris Film for CIS, MCF for Ex Yougoslavia, Gulf Film for the Middle East, The Coup for South Korea and Shaw for Singapore.
"Nightride" was produced by Paul Kennedy for Village Films, Jon Silk for Silk Mass and Céline Dornier for Logical Pictures. The film is expected to be delivered at the end of the year.
Fingleton made his feature debut with "The Survivalist," a post-apocalyptic thriller which was nominated for a BAFTA and won prizes at Tribeca, Sitges and the British Independent Film Awards.