CANNES — Lionsgate has acquired U.K. rights to heist movie “Trespass Against Us,” which is the debut feature from up-and-coming U.K. director Adam Smith, and stars Michael Fassbender (“12 Years a Slave”).
Pic is written by Alastair Siddons, who will also produce, alongside Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood of Potboiler Prods. It will be executive produced by Tessa Ross of Film4, Zygi Kamasa at Lionsgate, Frederick W. Green and Joshua Astrachan of Animal Kingdom, and Nigel Williams.
Pic was developed and is being co-financed by Film4 with backing from the BFI and Lipsync, and is scheduled to shoot in the U.K. this summer. Protagonist Pictures is handling global sales.
Fassbender stars opposite Brendan Gleeson (“Gangs of New York”). The cast also includes Lyndsey Marshal (“The Hours”), Rory Kinnear (“Skyfall”), Sean Harris (“Prometheus”) and Killian Scott (“Love/Hate”).
The story is set across three generations of the rowdy Cutler family, who live as outlaws — hunting hares, ram-raiding stately homes and taunting the police. As the letter of the law finally catches up with Chad (Fassbender), he is torn between the archaic principles of his father (Gleeson), and what he believes is best for his children.
Music for the film will come from electro duo The Chemical Brothers, who will write and perform the original score.
Smith has directed music promos for The Streets and The Chemical Brothers, most recently directing music-related documentary “The Chemical Brothers — Don’t Think.” He has also directed TV episodes of “Doctor Who,” “Little Dorrit” and “Skins.”
Siddons has directed the documentaries “Turn It Loose” and “Inside Out: The People’s Art Project.” “Trespass Against Us” is his first feature film.
London-based Potboiler is one of Europe’s most successful production outfits, which in the last year has finished shooting Anton Corbijn’s “A Most Wanted Man,” Biyi Bandele’s “Half of a Yellow Sun” and Alan Rickman’s “A Little Chaos.”
