Tribeca Films Acquires Rights To London Cop Thriller ‘Hyena’
Zack Sharf
Tribeca Film announced earlier today it has acquired North American distribution rights to Gerard Johnson’s second feature film, “Hyena.” In the London-based cop thriller, the writer-director tells the story of a corrupt policeman (Peter Ferdinando) and the ruthless Albanian gangsters threatening to change London’s criminal landscape.
The crime film, which opened this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival and screened to favorable reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, costars Stephen Graham (“Boardwalk Empire”), Neil Maskell (“Kill List”) and Richard Dormer (“Game of Thrones”).
“‘Hyena’ is a raw, unflinching and explosive portrait of the contemporary London underworld,” said Geoff Gilmore of Tribeca Film in a statement. “At the cutting edge of the cinematic universe inhabited by Abel Ferrara and Nicolas Winding Refn, director Gerard Johnson has stylishly crafted a world of brutality and amoral battles between cops and thugs from which there is no easy escape or refuge and that you won’t want to miss.”
The drama is presented by Film4 and the BFI, a Number 9 Films Production in association with Riggins Productions Limited and Lipsync. The film was produced by Stephen Woolley, Joanna Laurie and Elizabeth Karlsen. Tribeca Film plans to release “Hyena” sometime in 2015.
