Dev Patel Boards AGC’s Tennis Thriller ‘The Journeyman’ From Tarsem Singh
Oscar nominee Dev Patel (The Green Knight) is set to star in The Journeyman, a new crime thriller fro director Tarsem Singh (The Fall) and Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, which will produce and fully finance the project.
AGC International reps the film’s international distribution rights and will introduce it to buyers at AFM.
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Scripted by the husband-and-wife duo of Bryan and Alexis Roberts, aka The Roberts, The Journeyman is the story of a struggling pro tennis player who is lured into an illegal match-fixing ring to support his family and finds himself trapped in a ruthless world of corruption and violence he may never escape.
Oscar nominee Scott Franklin is producing alongside Ford for AGC, Mason Eways for LBI Entertainment, and Patel’s Minor Realm, with Shamier Anderson and Stephan James exec producing for Bay Mills. CAA Media Finance is handling domestic alongside AGC, with EVP of Legal & Business Affairs Anant Tamirisa representing AGC Studios on the project. Production is set to kick off next year.
In a statement accompanying the project announcement, AGC’s Ford said, “The Roberts have written a taught, suspenseful crime thriller full of twists and turns that feels like a perfect fit for a visionary filmmaker like Tarsem and a top tier producer of Scott’s caliber. Tarsem’s renowned visual flair and deep experience in working with top athletes will also see him depict a viscerally authentic version of the pro tennis circuit that goes beyond what’s been seen on the big screen before. I’ve wanted to work with Dev Patel for a long time meanwhile and this is a phenomenal role for him to get his teeth into.”
Stated Franklin, whose credits include the likes of Black Swan, The Wrestler and The Whale, “Before I ever produced my first film, I saw The Fall in 2006 and Tarsem instantly became one of my favorite filmmakers. His latest film, Dear Jassi, is one of the best films I’ve seen in the last 20 years. After seeing Dev Patel’s Monkey Man and his existing body of work, the thought of having a chance to watch these two come together and create magic on screen became a dream come true. Having the support of partners like Stuart Ford and AGC, LBI, and my original partners on the project, Shamier Anderson and Stephan James at Bay Mills, makes this a once in a lifetime opportunity I could have never imagined.”
Best known for roles in acclaimed dramas like Slumdog Millionaire and Lion, as well as A24’s The Green Knight from David Lowery, Patel is coming off his directorial debut with the actioner Monkey Man for Universal and Monkeypaw, which he also starred in and produced.
Breaking out with his commercials for major international brands including Smirnoff, Coke, Nike, Levis and Pepsi, Singh directed his first feature, The Cell, in 2000. Since then, he’s helmed The Fall, as well as Immortals starring Henry Cavill, Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts, and Self/Less starring Ryan Reynolds. Additional credits include 10-part miniseries Emerald City and his first feature in Punjabi, Dear Jassi, which won the Platform Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
The producer of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour, which recently nabbed the #1 U.S. film spot on Netflix in its debut, AGC recently premiered Ron Howard’s psychological thriller Eden, starring Ana de Armas, Jude Law, Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl, at the Toronto Film Festival. Up next, the company will unveil its historical crime thriller The Order, starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett. Directed by Justin Kurzel, the film hits U.S. theaters on December 6.
Patel is represented by CAA, Curtis Brown, Stephanie Comer at Sol22 and attorney Jamie Feldman at Lichter, Grossman, Nichols; Singh by LBI Entertainment and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols; and The Roberts by LBI Entertainment and Yorn Levine.
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