by FIlmInk Staff
Highland Film Group Launching Worldwide Sales at TIFF
Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe (Nuremberg, upcoming Highlander) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Netflix’s The White Tiger, Prime Video’s The Bluff and Heads of State) are set to star in the sci-fi action thriller Bluefly. Directed by Nimród Antal (Predators, “Stranger Things”), Bluefly is written by David Frigerio (Beast, Land of Bad), William Eubank (Underwater, The Signal) and Carlyle Eubank (Broke, Muzzle).
The sci-fi action thriller is produced by Michael Jefferson for Polite Society, David Frigerio for Broken Open Pictures, Deborah Glover for G2 Dispatch, Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier for Highland Film Group, and Vanessa Yao Guo. Bluefly is executive produced by Lia Buman, Guy Davies, RuthAnne Frigerio, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Jason Kringstein, Katie Leary, Scott Levenson and James Norbury.
Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights, launching sales at TIFF. Principal photography is set to begin later this year on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Deep in the Congo, a grieving UN translator is pulled onto a black-ops mission to recover a downed aircraft that isn’t supposed to exist. As a Special Operations team pushes upriver through militia-held territory, the recovery becomes a descent — and the closer they get to the craft, the clearer it becomes that they were never meant to bring it home.
“We have a stellar cast led by Russell Crowe and Priyanka Chopra Jonas who will ignite the screen in this high-stakes, sci-fi thrill ride with layers of depth,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Bluefly is heart-pounding entertainment with a complex story full of unexpected twists. With Nimród Antal at the helm and our wonderful cast, we cannot wait to introduce this fantastic project to our global buyers,” added company COO Delphine Perrier.
“Bluefly is an intense, character-driven thriller wrapped inside a bold science-fiction premise,” said director Nimród Antal. “It’s the kind of film I live to make — grounded, propulsive, and full of dread — and I couldn’t ask for a better cast or team to bring it to the screen.”
Crowe is a three-time Academy Award nominee and won the Best Actor Oscar for Gladiator. He recently starred in Sony Pictures Classics’ Nuremberg and will next be seen in Netflix’s thriller Unabomber, Vertical’s The Weight, Walden Media’s thriller Billion Dollar Spy, and Amazon MGM’s highly anticipated reboot, Highlander.
Chopra Jonas is an award winning actor, producer, and New York Times bestselling author. She recently led and produced Prime Video’s “The Bluff,” which debuted at #1 worldwide, and “Heads of State,” Prime Video’s fourth most-watched film, alongside Idris Elba and John Cena, which most recently earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Television Movie. Priyanka’s Purple Pebble Pictures recently Executive Produced the Oscar Nominated short film Anuja (2025), award-winning and Oscar-nominated feature documentary To Kill A Tiger (2024), and she starred in and Executive Produced Netflix’s Oscar-nominated film The White Tiger (2021.). Currently she stars in Prime Video’s spy thriller “Citadel,” alongside Stanley Tucci and Richard Madden, and next up, Priyanka will star in S.S. Rajamouli’s highly anticipated upcoming action-adventure epic film “Varanasi,” set to be released in April 2027. She is also set to star opposite Orlando Bloom in the upcoming survival thriller Reset.
Highland Film Group’s current slate also includes Lisette Feliciano’s Iron Jane starring Eiza Gonzalez and Brandon Sklenar; Neil Burger’s action thriller Barracuda starring Anthony Mackie and Dafne Keen; Justin Chadwick’s action spy-thriller The Mark starring Jessica Alba, Tom Hopper and Elsa Pataky; Pierre Morel’s action thriller The Good Samaritan starring Daisy Ridley, Josh Duhamel and Sharlto Copley; the espionage action thriller Stratagem starring Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo and Brad Anderson’s psychological thriller Moral Capacity starring Dacre Montgomery, Diane Lane, Sofia Boutella and Tim Robbins.
Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP (GGSSC). Chopra Jonas is repped by United Talent Agency and A-Series;
Antal is repped by Range Media Partners; William Eubank is repped by Anonymous Content and CAA; Carlyle Eubank is repped by Atlas Literary.
ABOUT POLITE SOCIETY
Polite Society is an independent media company producing film, games, and original IP, with operations in Salt Lake City and Brisbane, Australia. The company was founded by producer Michael Jefferson, whose credits include Land of Bad, starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth; Joe Carnahan’s Not Without Hope, starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel; and One True Loves, starring Simu Liu, Luke Bracey and Phillipa Soo. Polite Society finances and produces its projects from development through delivery, working across both the U.S. and Australian markets.
ABOUT BROKEN OPEN PICTURES
Broken Open Pictures is the production company founded by writer-producer David Frigerio and Ruthanne Frigerio, developing and producing elevated genre films with a focus on grounded, character-driven action, thriller and science-fiction storytelling. The company’s films include The Avenue’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth, which surged to the #1 spot on Netflix in the U.S. following its 2024 theatrical release; Lionsgate’s critically acclaimed action-drama Beast, co-written by Frigerio and Crowe, with Crowe co-starring; and the police thriller Muzzle starring Aaron Eckhart, which launched the franchise continued in Muzzle: City of Wolves. Bluefly marks the company’s third collaboration with Crowe. Broken Open Pictures has a slate of feature and television projects in active development.
ABOUT G2 DISPATCH
G2 Dispatch is an Australian production company developing and producing film, television, and original intellectual property for global audiences. Founded by producer Deborah Glover, the company collaborates with leading filmmakers, studios, and international partners to bring commercially compelling stories to life across multiple platforms. Its recent productions include Runner, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson, and The Get Out, starring Russell Crowe, Luke Evans, Aaron Paul, Nina Dobrev, and Teresa Palmer, reflecting its commitment to world-class productions and international collaboration.
ABOUT HIGHLAND FILM GROUP
Led by founding partners Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Highland Film Group (HFG) is an award-winning global studio with end-to-end capabilities, driving films from development to release. HFG operates as a producer, financier, distributor and sales agent, with an in-house team that oversees global productions and acquisitions. Launched in 2010, HFG delivers standout films across a wide range of genres and platforms, building a reputation for producing high-octane films in the action, thriller and horror space. In 2020, the studio expanded into U.S. distribution with the successful launch of The Avenue, HFG’s dedicated label managing all release windows, from theatrical through home entertainment to television, SVOD and AVOD.
HFG’s diversified production and sales slate includes William Eubank’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth released on 1,300 screens in February 2024 and surged to the #1 spot on Netflix in the US; Benjamin Brewer’s survival action-thriller Arcadian starring Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage, official selection at SXSW; Adam Cooper’s crime thriller Sleeping Dogs starring Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan which took the #1 spot on Hulu in the U.S. last year; Adrian Grünberg’s shark actioner The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas which claimed the #1 spot on Amazon’s streaming rankings for seven consecutive days following its theatrical release in 2023; the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut produced by Brad Fuller and starring Kate Mara and Laurence Fishburne, world premiere at SXSW; Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel; Adrian Grünberg’s action thriller Protector starring Milla Jovovich and Justin Chadwick’s action thriller Sierra Madre starring Kiefer Sutherland.
New projects include Neil Burger’s action thriller Barracuda starring Anthony Mackie and Dafne Keen; Justin Chadwick’s action spy-thriller The Mark starring Jessica Alba, Tom Hopper and Elsa Pataky; Martin Campbell‘s thriller Just Play Dead starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Green; Brad Anderson’s psychological thriller Moral Capacity starring Dacre Montgomery, Diane Lane, Sofia Boutella and Tim Robbins; the espionage action thriller Stratagem starring Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo; Pierre Morel’s action thriller The Good Samaritan starring Daisy Ridley and the acclaimed cyber heist thriller LifeHack from producer Timur Bekmambetov, official selection at SXSW and the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Previous titles include Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level starring Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson and Frank Grillo; 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, and Vaughn Stein’s Terminal starring Margot Robbie and Simon Pegg.
Image: Russell Crowe by Brian Bowen Smith, Priyanka Chopra by Nicholas Gerardin
