NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Screen Media, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company (Nasdaq: CSSE), announced today the acquisition of all North American rights to the upcoming crime thriller Devil’s Peak. The film stars Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton (The Gray Man, Bad Santa), Golden Globe winner Robin Wright (Wonder Woman 1984, House of Cards), Hopper Penn (War Machine, The Cleaner) and Academy Award nominee Jackie Earle Haley (The Watchmen). Devil’s Peak is directed by Ben Young (Hounds of Love, Extinction) from a screenplay written by Robert Knott (Appaloosa), based on the novel Where All Light Tends to Go written by David Joy. Screen Media will release the film exclusively in theaters on February 17, followed by a digital release on February 24.
Set in the Appalachian Mountains, Devil’s Peak is a tense thriller about a family dominated by a crime lord (Thornton) who controls his family and his business with his fists. When his son (Penn) meets the girl of his dreams (Katelyn Nacon), desperately wanting to escape the life he is expected to lead and free himself from the clutches of his father, he is forced to go head to head with the terrifying man who will stop at nothing to ensure loyalty from all of those around him.
“Working with a cast of this stature had always been a dream of mine,” said director Ben Young. “I wanted to get back to my roots and make a movie on location that would live or die by its performances. It’s movie-making in its purest form, driven by love and passion for the medium by all involved.”
“We’ve been big fans of the story since we first read it,” said David Fannon, chief acquisitions and distribution officer at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. “Devil’s Peak is the kind of original storytelling that Screen Media can’t wait to bring to audiences worldwide.”
The film was produced by Wright, Griff Furst, Josh Kesselman, Robert Knott, and Jamie Hilton. Executive producers include Ford Corbett, Seth Needle, Conor McAdam, Maurice Fadida, Angela Meredith Furst, Landon Gorman, Amanda Morrison, Brandon Powers, Anthony Standberry and David Nagelberg.
The deal was negotiated by Seth Needle, executive vice president of global acquisitions and co-productions, on behalf of Screen Media, with Griff Furst on behalf of the filmmakers.
Screen Media recently acquired Tom DeLonge’s directorial debut Monsters of California, Renny Harlin’s action film The Bricklayer starring Aaron Eckhart and Nina Dobrev from Millennium Films, The Locksmith starring Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth, and Ving Rhames as well as the Bella Thorne-led thriller Saint Clare also starring Ryan Phillippe and Rebecca DeMornay. Recent film releases include Poker Face directed by and starring Academy Award Winner Russell Crowe, Kevin Lewis’ follow-up to Willy’s Wonderland, The Accursed starring Alexis Knapp and Mena Suvari, The Enforcer starring Antonio Banderas and Kate Bosworth, The Immaculate Room starring Emile Hirsch, Kate Bosworth and Ashley Greene Khoury, The Nan Movie starring Catherine Tate, Code Name Banshee starring Antonio Banderas, Jaime King and Tommy Flanagan and the psychological horror film Monstrous starring Christina Ricci.
About Screen Media Ventures LLC
Screen Media Ventures, LLC, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (Nasdaq: CSSE) company, is a leading independent distributor of feature films, television series and documentaries in North America and supplies high-quality content to the global market through its foreign sales division. The company is the main supplier of content to the Crackle Plus streaming services, as well as to third-party streaming platforms. With its recent acquisitions of 1091 Pictures and the Sonar Entertainment library assets, Screen Media continues to expand its library of nearly 7,000 television series and motion pictures. Screen Media’s diverse slate of titles includes critically acclaimed and audience favorites: The Outpost starring Scott Eastwood, Willy’s Wonderland starring Academy Award® Winner Nicolas Cage, groundbreaking documentaries such as The Phenomenon and Grammy-Award Winner Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, and indie film hits including Academy Award® Winner Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. For more information, visit: www.screenmedia.net
About Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (Nasdaq: CSSE) provides premium content to value-conscious consumers. The company is one of the largest advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) companies in the US, with three flagship AVOD streaming services: Redbox, Crackle and Chicken Soup for the Soul. In addition, the company operates Redbox Free Live TV, a free ad-supported streaming television service (FAST), with over 150 channels as well as a transaction video on demand (TVOD) service, and a network of approximately 34,000 kiosks across the US for DVD rentals. To provide original and exclusive content to its viewers, the company creates, acquires and distributes films and TV series through its Screen Media and Chicken Soup for the Soul TV Group subsidiaries. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is a subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, which publishes the famous book series and produces super-premium pet food under the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand name.
