Goldcrest Films nabs “Against the Sun” true-life adventure

PanARMENIAN.Net - Goldcrest Films has acquired all international rights to the true-life adventure “Against the Sun”. Pic is toplined by Tom Felton, who starred as Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” pics, as well as playing in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Fangs of War.”

According to Variety, “Against the Sun” tells the true-life story of three U.S. navy airmen who battle for survival after their torpedo bomber crash lands in the South Pacific six weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The film, which also stars Garret Dillahunt (“12 Years a Slave,” “Looper,” Fox hit comedy “Raising Hope”) and Jake Abel (“Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”), will have its market premiere at the American Film Market this November, and is due for release in the U.S. in late January 2015.

“Against the Sun” is written, directed and produced by Brian Falk (producer of “Parkland,” “The Conspirator”) and executive produced by The American Film Company’s founder Joe Ricketts (“Parkland,” “The Conspirator”).

Pic starts on Jan. 16, 1942, when navy pilot Harold Dixon (Dillahunt), Radioman Gene Aldrich (Abel), and Bombardier Tony Pastula (Felton) take off from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to search for submarines in the glistening waters of the South Pacific. The three men are strangers, assigned to spend an afternoon together in a single-engine torpedo bomber. They should be back on board in time for dinner.

But instead of enjoying dinner on the Enterprise, the men find themselves fighting for their lives on a dark ocean in a tiny rubber raft, forced to ditch in the sea after they lose their way and run out of fuel. Their situation is worse than grim, as their plane sinks to the ocean floor, carrying with it all of their emergency supplies, leaving them with no first aid kit, no signalling device, no compass, no food, and no water.

Pascal Degove, managing director of Goldcrest Films, said: “Real life stories of extraordinary feats of human endurance continue to thrill audiences globally, and Brian’s story has it all, from a bone-shaking plane crash to tumultuous seas and voracious sharks. This is ‘127 Hours’ meets ‘Open Water.’ And it genuinely happened.”

Alfred Levitt, chief operating officer of The American Film Co., added: “Our mission is to tell true stories of inspiring figures from history. The tale of these navy airmen is all that and more. It is thrilling, moving, and above all entertaining.”

Goldcrest is looking forward to a busy AFM having just announced supernatural thriller “Slumber,” which is helmed by commercials director Jonathan Hopkins. Also on the slate is “Brooklyn Bridge,” which stars Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Kingsley and Brie Larson.