Adam Cooper & Bill Collage (Assassins Creed, Exodus: Gods and Kings) adapted the novel, which will mark Cooper’s directorial debut. Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures will produce alongside Cooper, Collage and Pouya Shabazian of New Leaf Literary. Matthew Goldberg, Cliff Roberts, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, and Ford Corbett will executive produce. Nickel City Pictures is partnering with Highland Film Group to launch worldwide sales in Toronto next month.
Principal photography is slated to begin in January 2023.
In the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, former homicide detective Roy Freeman (Crowe, pictured in The Nice Guys) is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past. A death row inmate Roy arrested ten years prior is now proclaiming his innocence. Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Roy enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation and discover the truth. This time though, things unfold very differently: as he uncovers a tangled web of contradictions and secrets, Roy is forced to face a horrific reality that changes his world forever in the blink of an eye.
“Our memory of the past is what gives us context for who we are. A character who is bereft in this capacity comes with a very complex kind of humanity — and there’s no one better at embodying complex characters than Russell Crowe,” said Cooper.
“Adam and Bill’s storytelling pedigree is really second to none and now, having the opportunity to work with Adam at the helm will be a truly exciting journey for us all. Russell Crowe is a serial award-winner, a master of his craft and perfectly cast in the challenging role of Freeman in this unique and prestigious project.” said Fasano.
“Working again with such a magnificent actor as Russell is a dream come true. We’re thrilled to team up with him for a second time in such a different and exciting role. He is a phenomenal performer and perfectly cast in Sleeping Dogs as the once brilliant detective whose memory has failed him,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Adam is a talented creator of unique and complex characters, and Russell is the perfect actor to deliver a highly nuanced and commanding performance in the lead role as Roy Freeman. Our director Adam Cooper’s vision is a tense and compelling one, full of suspense, intrigue and so many twists and turns! We cannot wait to see it brought to life,” added Highland COO Delphine Perrier.
Crowe is currently in production on Sony/Screen Gems The Pope’s Exorcist, and will next be seen in The Greatest Beer Run Ever and J.C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter. He is in post-production on the thriller Poker Face, which he directed and stars in.
Cooper’s forthcoming projects include Little Red Dog, the Nickel City adaptation of the Thomas Perry novel Strip, with John Gilroy directing; and the TV series The Destroyers for Amazon Prime, starring Nick Robinson and directed by Anne Sewitsky.
Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP (GGSSC). Jerry Dasti of Sloss Eckhouse LawCo represented Nickel City Pictures.
Nickel City Pictures is currently in post-production on the Universal romantic comedy The List, starring Halston Sage; Neil Jordan’s noir thriller Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson; and the family adventure film Boys of Summer, starring Mel Gibson and Mason Thames. Production is set to begin this September on the contemporary western Blood for Dust, starring Kit Harrington and Scoot McNairy and is in development on: Silver Bear, an adaptation of the five-part book series by Derek Haas at Lionsgate.
HFG’s current sales slate also includes Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth; the action thriller Blood For Dust starring Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas; Neil LaBute’s Fear the Night starring Maggie Q; Tim Sutton’s fictional music biopic Taurus starring Colson Baker, Maddie Hasson, Scoot McNairy and Megan Fox; Daniel Casey’s Wardriver starring Dane DeHaan; Rusty Cundieff’s 57 Seconds starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson; John Stalberg Jr.’s Muzzle starring Aaron Eckhart; Andy Fickman’s One True Loves starring Simu Liu, Phillipa Soo and Luke Bracey; Savage Salvation starring Robert De Niro, John Malkovich and Jack Huston and Adrian Grünberg’s The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas.
ABOUT NICKEL CITY PICTURES
Launched in 2016, Nickel City Pictures is a bi-coastal production company which develops and produces content across both film and television and collaborates with unique storytellers to create quality commercial content for global audiences. Nickel City Pictures, whose mission is to work with leading filmmakers, writers, and actors to preserve the creative vision and authenticity of projects, maintains several strategic partnerships with international distributors, including a development financing deal with leading film distributor Italia Film and financier Olive Tree Capital, allowing the company to seek and independently develop high profile projects. www.nickelcitypictures.com
ABOUT HIGHLAND FILM GROUP
Check out the new website: https://highlandfilmgroup.com/
Led by founding partners Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Highland Film Group (HFG) is an independent worldwide sales, film financing, production and distribution company. Launched in 2010, HFG has had success across a wide range of film genres and platforms, building a reputation for handling high-octane films in the action/thriller/horror space, focusing on cast, director, and filmmaker driven content.
HFG’s diversified production and sales slate includes the action thriller Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth; the action thriller Blood For Dust starring Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas; Neil LaBute’s Fear the Night starring Maggie Q; Tim Sutton’s fictional music biopic Taurus starring Colson Baker, Maddie Hasson, Scoot McNairy and Megan Fox; Lea Thompson’s rom-com Manville; Daniel Casey’s Wardriver starring Dane DeHaan; Rusty Cundieff’s 57 Seconds starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson; John Stalberg Jr.’s Muzzle starring Aaron Eckhart; Andy Fickman’s One True Loves starring Simu Liu, Phillipa Soo and Luke Bracey; Savage Salvation starring Robert De Niro, John Malkovich and Jack Huston; Adrian Grünberg’s The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas; The Lair directed by Neil Marshall; Petr Jakl’s Medieval starring Ben Foster and Michael Caine; Mark Earl Burman’s Ambush starring Aaron Eckhart, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Connor Paolo and Jason Genao; Stephan Rick’s The Good Neighbor starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Luke Kleintank; K. Asher Levin’s Slayers starring Thomas Jane, Abigail Breslin and Malin Akerman; Mauro Borelli’s Warhunt starring Mickey Rourke; Andrew Baird’s One Way starring Colson Baker, Kevin Bacon and Travis Fimmel; Avan Jogia’s Door Mouse starring Hayley Law, Famke Janssen and Keith Powers; Allan Ungar’s Bandit starring Josh Duhamel, Mel Gibson and Elisha Cuthbert and Herbert James Winterstern’s Supercell starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche.
Previous titles include Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level starring Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson and Frank Grillo; Dimitri Logothetis’ Jiu Jitsu starring Nicolas Cage and Tony Jaa; Lin Oeding’s thriller Braven starring Jason Momoa; Scott Mann’s Final Score starring Dave Bautista and Pierce Brosnan; Berlin, I Love You with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna and Jenna Dewan Tatum; Vaughn Stein’s Terminal starring Margot Robbie and Renny Harlin’s The Misfits starring Pierce Brosnan, Nick Cannon and Tim Roth.
