After a scramble among distributors, a deal has been done for the US rights to Free Fire, the new thriller which stars Cillian Murphy and Jack Reynor.
Distribution company Alchemy has bought the rights at the American Film Market, the annual event in Santa Monica, California where new productions are financed and sold.
Film industry website Deadline.com reported that the Ben Wheatley-directed film was "white hot" in terms of demand at this year's event, and that the cost of US rights was upwards of $3m. Martin Scorsese is among the executive producers on Free Fire.
Set in Boston in 1978, the crime thriller tells the story of a woman (Room star Brie Larson) who brokers an ill-fated arms deal involving two Irishmen (Murphy and Glassland actor Michael Smiley) and two gang members (District 9's Sharlto Copley and The Social Network's Armie Hammer) in a warehouse. No details on Reynor's character have been released.
Wheatley co-wrote Free Fire with his longtime writing partner, wife Amy Jump. She also worked with him on the acclaimed A Field in England, Sightseers and Kill List.
Director Ben Wheatley on the set of his 2012 film Sightseers
"Ben Wheatley is one of the most exciting directors currently working and Free Fire is the film that's going to make him a household name," said Brooke Ford, Alchemy's Executive Vice President of Marketing, Acquisitions and Production.
The film will be released next year.
