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9 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has acquired world rights to under-the-radar thriller Amber Alert, which will star Golden Globe nominee Hayden Panettiere (Scream VI). Golden Globe winner Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary) co-stars.
In Amber Alert, which is in post-production, an ordinary ride share becomes a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. The story will follow Jaq (Hayden Panettiere) who is eager to get to her first day at a new job, and her driver, Shane (Tyler James Williams), who is just trying to earn a little extra at his side hustle. An alert of a child abduction on their phones will change all that when they discover they are behind a car that matches the description of the kidnapper’s. Unable to let a possible child trafficker escape, they begin a pursuit that will put their own lives at risk.
Kerry Bellessa directs the film which is written by Kerry Bellessa and Joshua Oram. Producers are Joseph Restaino and Tony Stopperan through their Hungry Bull Productions banner, Summer and Kerry Bellessa through Bluefields Entertainment, and Leal Naim.
The film is co-financed by Hungry Bull Productions and Three Point Capital. Panettiere and Williams will also executive-produce the film. Lionsgate will release domestically.
Hungry Bull Productions, based in Florida, is best known for Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut Pig, starring Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff, which was picked up by Neon. Credits also include Passing (Netflix), directed by Rebecca Hall and starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Alexander Skarsgard, and André Holland, and Lionsgate movies The Lady of the Manor, with Melanie Lynskey, Judy Greer, Justin Long, and Ryan Phillippe, and thriller Fear of Rain, starring Katherine Heigl, Harry Connick.
Amber Alert marks Panettiere’s second screen project — after Scream VI — since her Golden Globe-nominated turn as singer Juliette Barnes in ABC’s hit series Nashville, produced by Lionsgate Television. The actress is also known for series and films including Heroes, Custody and Remember The Titans.
Williams is best known for his roles in Abbott Elementary, The United States vs. Billie Holiday and Dear White People.
Panettiere is repped by Mainstay Entertainment, Independent Artists Group, and Hansen, Jacobson. Williams is represented by The Gersh Agency and Hansen, Jacobson.
