Netflix to nab Jared Leto action-crime drama “The Outsider”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Netflix is in talks to acquire global rights to “The Outsider”, an action-crime drama with Jared Leto, Variety has learned.

The deal has yet to close, but if it does, it would represent another showy acquisition for the streaming giant as it moves aggressively into the film space. Netflix already turned heads with acclaimed films such as “Beasts of No Nation” and the Ava DuVernay documentary “13th.” It has lined up projects with the likes of Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and David Ayer.

“The Outsider” follows a U.S. army deserter who joins the Yakuza while living in post-World War II Japan. Leto, who won an Oscar for “Dallas Buyers Club,” is the big draw, but the cast also includes Rory Cochrane (“Black Mass”) and Tadanobu Asano (“Thor”). It is directed by Martin Zandvliet, whose previous film “Land of Mine” world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2015, where it was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. Andrew Baldwin (“The Take”) wrote the screenplay. Filming is taking place in Tokyo.

Leto appeared in last summer’s “Suicide Squad” and will next appear in “Blade Runner 2049” opposite Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling.

Bloom is handling the sale of “The Outsider” and put the project together. It was sold out of AFM.