Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights for new Irish/South African film ‘Jadotville’ – which is being co-produced by Parallel Films.
The film tells the true story of the 1961 siege of a 150-member Irish U.N. battalion by 3,000 Congolese troops, led by French and Belgian mercenaries working for mining companies – and will star IFTA-winner Jamie Dornan (‘The Fall’, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’) in the lead role of Commander Patrick Quinlan.
Guillaume Canet will also star as the French commander who sought to defeat Quinlan and his men.
The film is based off Kevin Brodbin’s screenplay and will be directed by Irish helmer Richie Smith in his feature film debut. Originally from Dublin, Richie has been working internationally his entire career on music videos and commercials with talents that include U2, The Verve, and Bon Jovi.
Alan Moloney (‘Byzantium’, ‘Albert Nobbs’,) will produce for Parallel Films, with financing coming from the Irish Film Board.
‘Jadotville’ is slated to go into production in April, shooting in Ireland and South Africa. The project was brought to the European Film Market at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival by Alex Walton’s Bloom; the deal with Netflix was negotiated by UTA Independent Film Group.
Netflix acquired all rights to ‘Jadotville’ and will debut the film on its Internet subscription VOD services. In addition, the company is expected to release the film theatrically for an Oscar qualifying run.
In other Parallel Films’ news, Ethan Hawke has just been cast as the star of the Irish/Canadian film ‘Maudie’ which will be directed by Aisling Walsh and ‘Brooklyn’ has just been acquired by Fox Searchlight for $9m following very positive reviews after premiering at Sundance.