Stephen St Leger’s action thriller, ‘Lock Out’ currently in post production in Dublin, has been chosen as part of EuropaCorp’s slate of films for the Cannes Film Market whilst Cinepool is overseeing sales of Magma Films' animated feature, 'Niko 2: Family Affairs' at the event.
The film, written and directed by Irish duo Stephen St. Leger and James Mather (the creative team behind 2004 short ‘Prey Alone’) stars Guy Pearce (Momento) and Maggie Grace (The Fog, Lost). The film centres on Guy Pearce’s character, a falsely convicted ex-government agent whose only chance of freedom is to accept a dangerous mission to rescue the president's daughter, played by Maggie Grace, from rioting prisoners at an outer space maximum security prison. The cast is rounded out by Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski), Vincent Regan (300) and Lennie James (Snatch).
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The feature shot in Belgrade last year and marks Stephen St. Leger and James Mather’s directorial feature debut, the latter also acting as director of photography for the project. The feature was produced with the backing of French Studio, EuropaCorp headed by Luc Besson (I Love You Philip Morris, From Paris with Love). It will be represented by EuropaCorp’s sales team at the Cannes Film Market. The film’s editing work commenced in Dublin’s Windmill Lane in June 2010 and will finish in June 2011.
Magma Films’ ‘Niko: A Family Affair’ is due for completion in April 2012. The feature is a co-production between the Galway animation outfit, Finland’s Animaker Oy, Denmark’s A-Film and Germany’s Ulysses Films plan. Written by Hannu Tuomainen (One Way Ticket to Mombasa) and Marteinn Thorisson (Summer of the Flying Saucer), ‘Niko: A Family Affair’ follows Niko, a young reindeer boy whose previous exploits saw him go on a search to find his father, a member of Santa’s Flying Reindeer Squad. The director is Kari Juusonen (The Flight Before Christmas).
The feature’s budget is €7,361,000 of which it has received funding from the Finnish Film Foundation and the Irish Film Board. The Irish producers involved with the project are Magma Films’ Moe Honan (Ooops Noah is Gone!) and Ralph Christians (The Ugly Duckling and Me) who is one of the film’s executive producers. The film’s pre-decessor, ‘Niko & The Way to the Stars’ proved a huge hit at 2009 film markets, selling to over 100 countries. Cinepool will act as the film’s sales agents at Cannes.
