DEADLINE: Blue Fox Entertainment Acquires Horror Thriller ‘Wake Up’ From Directing Trio RKSS, StudioCanal
June 4, 2024
EXCLUSIVE: Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired North American rights from StudioCanal to Wake Up, a horror thriller from the filmmaking trio RKSS (Turbo Kid), which it will release across the U.S. and in Canada later this year.
Recently premiering at Austin’s Fantastic Fest, the film watches as a group of young activists set out to make an environmental statement by vandalizing a home superstore as it closes. But their plan goes terribly wrong when they become trapped inside and must face a deranged security guard with a gruesome passion for primitive hunting. As the night fills with violence and terror, the teenagers find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.
Alberto Marini (Retribution) wrote the script, with Laurent Baudens (We Are Zombies) and Gaël Nouaille (Spoiled Brats) producing for Borsalino Productions. Pic’s cast includes Turlough Convery (Black Mirror), Benny O. Arthur (Django), Jacqueline Moré (The Anarchist’s Dream), Charlotte Stoiber (Downfall), Aidan O’Hare (My Sailor My Love), Kyle Scudder (In Love All Over Again) and newcomers Alessia Yoko Fontana and Tom Gould.
Short for Roadkill Superstar, RKSS consists of Canadian filmmakers François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoannn-Karl Whissell, whose first two award-winning films, Turbo Kid and Summer of ’84, were selected by over 100 festivals, including Sundance and SXSW.
“We are thrilled to add RKSS’s next film to our theatrical slate,” said Blue Fox Entertainment’s Lisa Gutberlet. “With WAKE UP, these incredibly talented filmmakers demonstrate another side to their unique style. The result is a timely, violent yet fun thrill ride that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats until the very end.”
Stated Chloé Marquet, StudioCanal’s Head of International Sales for Films & TV Series, “We are so excited to see Blue Fox bring this high-concept slasher movie to the US market. After several films together this is the first time we will collaborate on a genre film and we cannot wait to see audiences embrace the wild ride that is WAKE UP.”
Blue Fox Entertainment’s Head of Acquisitions, Michael Huntsman, negotiated the deal with StudioCanal’s Marquet.
