Vertical Entertainment — the distributor behind such movies as “Miss Juneteenth,” “Shadow in the Cloud” and “Ava” — has acquired the distribution rights for “The Estate” in North America, the U.K. and Ireland. The thriller, the feature directing debut of James Kapner, and written by Chris Baker (who also co-stars in the film), will be released in theaters and on VOD day-and-date this fall.
“The Estate” stars Eliza Coupe (“Happy Endings”), Greg Finley (“The Flash”), Baker, Heather Matarazzo (“Welcome to the Dollhouse”), Eric Roberts (“Runaway Train”) and Lala Kent (“Vanderpump Rules”). Baker’s character aligns with his stepmother (Coupe) to hire a hitman (Finley) to kill the family patriarch (Roberts), a move “initiating a psychosexual love triangle that spirals into more than anyone bargained for,” according to its logline.
Josh Spector, the SVP of acquisitions for Vertical Entertainment, said, “We couldn’t be prouder to be partnering with this talented filmmaking team on “The Estate,” an artfully crafted dark comedy/thriller with exceptional performances from the entire cast.”
“At its essence, this is a taut genre picture about beautiful people doing ugly things,” said Kapner, the film’s director. “‘The Estate’ holds up a perverse fun house mirror to our world, amplifying our darkest desires and impulses all with a devilish and undeniably alluring grin. I’m so excited to share this film with the world and can’t wait for audiences to have 90 minutes of sexy, bloody fun.”
“The Estate” was produced by Adam Makowka, Rod Hamilton, and Alixandra von Renner; executive produced by Mark Boujikian, William Bruey, Nicholas Lyons, and Scott R Long; cinematography by Mike Simpson; edited by Patrick Sanchez Smith; production design by Matthew Siltala; costumes by Cocoa Rigal and music by Daniel Dombrowsky. The film was produced by Stone Lane Pictures in association with Runners.
The deal for distribution was negotiated by Peter Jarowey and Spector of Vertical Entertainment and ICM on the filmmakers’ behalf.