Before the debut at the Sundance Film Festival, an action / adventure feature by Japanese director Sion Sono Ghostland Prisoners was acquired by RLJE Films from AMC Networks.
RLJE distributed Cage’s trippy sci-fi feature Color out of space, that they bought at TIFF 2019 and launched last summer The tax collector by David Ayer.
Ghostland prisoners, written by Aaron Hendry and Rexa Sixo Safai, set in the treacherous border town of Samurai Town, where a ruthless bank robber (Cage) is released from prison by the wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has disappeared. The governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for rescuing the fugitive. Tied in a leather suit that will self-destruct in three days, the bandit sets out on a journey to find the young woman – and his own path to redemption.
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Ghostland Prisoners it was fully funded by Union Mendot Capital Management by Michael Mendelsohn. Patriot Pictures and XYZ Films produced, with the latter responsible for worldwide sales. XYZ controlled sales of Cage’s previous photos Color Out of Space and Mandy. Nick Cassavetes, Tak Sakaguchi (Tokyo tribe) and Yuzuka Nakaya (The forest of love) also star. Joseph Trapanese (Tron: Legacy, The Raid: Redemption, The Greatest Showman) composed the original score.
Ghostland Prisoners was produced by Michael Mendelsohn for Patriot Pictures, Laura Rister for Untitled Entertainment, Ko Mori for Eleven Arts, Reza Sixo Safai for Boos Boos Bang Bang and Nate Bolotin for XYZ Films. Executive production was by Natalie Perrotta, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian and Yuji Sadai. Ward and Jess DeLeo of RLJE Films negotiated the deal with XYZ Films’ Bolotin on behalf of the filmmakers.
“We are excited to once again work with Nicolas Cage on a highly anticipated film directed by celebrated Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono,” said Mark Ward, Procurement Director at RLJE Filmes. “Following the success of Mandy and Color Out of Space, Ghostland Prisoners it’s already getting a lot of excitement and we can’t wait for the audience to see it at Sundance. “