Ric Roman Waugh to Direct Jason Statham Action Thriller for Black Bear
- Details
- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Saturday, 15 February 2025 11:12
- Written by A&E Contributing Editor
Black Bear has announced that acclaimed director Ric Roman Waugh (Greenland, Angel Has Fallen) will direct the previously announced untitled Jason Statham (The Beekeeper, The Meg, Fast & Furious franchise) action thriller, and revealed an electrifying ensemble cast.
The addition of Bodhi Rae Breathnach (upcoming Hamnet), Bill Nighy (Living, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, About Time), Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, upcoming Mickey 17), and Daniel Mays (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, 1917, The Bank Job). The plot is being kept under wraps and the film is based on a script penned by Ward Parry with revisions by Christian Contreras and Parry.
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Principal photography is underway this week in the UK and Ireland. Black Bear introduced the film to the market in Cannes last year and co-represents the U.S. rights alongside Range Select.
Ric Roman Waugh is known for his gritty, high-stakes filmmaking style. He gained widespread recognition with the 2013 film Snitch, starring Dwayne Johnson, and solidified his reputation with the success of Angel Has Fallen, the third installment in Gerard Butler's Fallen action series. Waugh's disaster film Greenland, also starring Butler, cemented Waugh as a leading voice in contemporary action cinema, and he recently wrapped the sequel, Greenland: Migration.
Producers on the picture include Statham (A Working Man, The Beekeeper) for Punch Palace Productions, John Friedberg (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Ferrari) for Black Bear, Brendon Boyea (Kandahar) for Cinemachine, and Jon Berg (Wonder Woman, Dr. Sleep, Aquaman) and Greg Silverman, former President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production for Warner Bros., for Stampede Ventures. Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler will serve as Executive Producers for Black Bear.
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Breakout young star Bodhi Rae Breathnach starred in the BBC crime thriller series, "The Capture." Her first film role will be opposite Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley in Chloe Zhao's adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's award-winning novel Hamnet, produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes.
Oscar® nominee Bill Nighy is an iconic British actor whose career spans over five decades. Nighy rose to international fame with his role in Love Actually, for which he won a BAFTA, and solidified his status as a beloved screen presence in films including About Time, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Living, which earned him an Academy Award® nomination.
BAFTA winner Naomi Ackie gained significant recognition for her breakthrough role in Lady Macbeth, where her performance as a strong-willed servant garnered acclaim. Ackie further showcased her range in projects like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, where she played Jannah. Ackie's performance as Whitney Houston in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody was widely praised and she recently starred in Zoë Kravitz's feature directorial debut Blink Twice, alongside Channing Tatum. She will next appear in the highly anticipated Mickey 17 from acclaimed director Bong Joon Ho, as well as The Thursday Murder Club for Chris Columbus, Boots Riley's comedy I Love Boosters, and Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby, which just premiered at Sundance where it was bought by A24.
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BAFTA nominee Daniel Mays gained early recognition for his role in the hit film Made in Dagenham, which showcased his versatility in a compelling ensemble. Mays' career spans a wide range of genres across film and television, from hard-hitting dramas like "Line of Duty" and "Red Riding" to action-packed films such as The Bank Job and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Jason Statham is one of the most in demand actors working in Hollywood today. His latest film The Beekeeper, directed by David Ayer, has so far grossed over $150 million at the global box office. He is currently reteaming with Ayer, shooting action-thriller A Working Man for Black Bear, Punch Palace, and Cedar Park Entertainment, and recently wrapped production on Mutiny with Jean-Francois Richet for Mad River in September. Statham's films have taken over $8 billion worldwide.
Waugh is represented by Range Media Partners and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Breathnach is repped by The Artists Partnership. Nighy is repped by Independent Talent Group, UTA, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein. Ackie is represented by CAA, Hamilton Hodell, Range Media Partners, and Peikoff Mahan Law Office. Mays is repped by Curtis Brown Group, UTA, and Goodman Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Statham is represented by Patrick Knapp.
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Black Bear's upcoming slate includes Train Dreams which just launched at Sundance where it sold to Netflix; The Rivals of Amziah King starring Matthew McConaughey; Guy Ritchie's Wife & Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike and Anthony Hopkins; Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman heist thriller, Tuner; Joseph Gordon-Levitt genre film Pendulum from Black Swan writer, Mark Heyman; David Michôd's untitled Christy Martin film starring Sydney Sweeney as the champion boxer; and Gregg Araki's provocative thriller, I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde.
About Black Bear
Black Bear is one of the world's leading independent studios, producing, financing, licensing and distributing film and television content around the world. With offices in Los Angeles and London, Black Bear also represents some of the most exciting artists working today through its bespoke management arm. The award-winning studio is behind such commercial and critical hits as The Imitation Game, I Care A Lot, Nyad, Mudbound, and All Is Lost, and boasts a slate featuring such titles as Sing Sing, starring Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin and Paul Raci, and Scott Frank's newest series "Monsieur Spade," starring Clive Owen.
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Black Bear's international sales and distribution arm, run from its London office, is one of the most selective and successful sales operations in the business. Black Bear's recent UK releases include Osgood Perkins' Longlegs starring Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe, and Edward Berger's Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rosselini, both of which debuted to rave reviews and record-breaking box office numbers. The upcoming slate includes Osgood Perkins' The Monkey starring Theo James; Guy Ritchie's In the Grey starring Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez; Andrew Patterson's crime thriller The Rivals of Amziah King starring Matthew McConaughey; David Ayer's A Working Man starring Jason Statham; David Mackenzie's Relay, starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James; Clint Bentley's Train Dreams starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones; the Sydney Sweeney-led untitled Christy Martin boxing project from director David Michôd; Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman; JJ Perry's Dave Bautista and Samuel L. Jackson vehicle Afterburn; Corin Hardy's Whistle; Olivia Colman's twisted romance, Wicker; and the upcoming Elon Musk documentary, Musk, from Oscar® winning filmmaker Alex Gibney.
For more information:www.blackbearpictures.com, Instagram:@blackbearpics, Twitter:@blackbearpics
About Punch Palace Productions
Punch Palace Productions was founded in 2022 by Jason Statham to produce high caliber feature film and television content. Since its inception, Punch Palace has produced feature films including The Beekeeper, directed by David Ayer and distributed by MGM Amazon Studios, which has to date grossed more than $150M worldwide, and A Working Man, also with David Ayer and produced alongside Black Bear and Cedar Park Entertainment, which will be released by MGM Amazon Studios in March 2025. After that is Mutiny from director Jean-Francois Richet, Mad River and Marc Butan, which started production in September, and will be distributed domestically by Lionsgate.
About Stampede Ventures
STAMPEDE VENTURES is a global media company that creates and owns IP across film, television, and digital with an eye toward launching new franchises.
