Barry Pepper, Sam Neill to Star in Mob Thriller ‘Bring Him to Me’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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Barry Pepper takes the lead in feature film “Bring Him to Me,” which is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, under director Luke Sparke (“Occupation Rainfall”). The picture is a mob thriller written by Tom Evans and which also stars Sam Neill and Rachel Griffiths.
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Under orders from a ruthless crime boss, a getaway driver must battle his conscience and drive a young and unsuspecting passenger to an uncertain fate. Evans’ script was inspired by the traumatic scene in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” in which Nicky Santoro (portrayed by Joe Pesci) unwittingly turns up for a meeting in a cornfield and things go South.
“I’ve been fascinated by morally gray stories like ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Drive,’ so when presented with the chance to dive deep into the underworld, I couldn’t resist bringing my own flavor to the genre, toeing the lines of film noir and graphic novels,” said Sparke. He is best known for comedy actioner “Red Billabong” and action thriller “Occupation Rainfall,” for which a sequel has been announced.
The supporting cast is led by Liam McIntyre (“Spartacus: Vengeance,” “The Flash”), American actor Jamie Costa, making his feature film debut after shooting to fame in 2021 with his portrayal of Robin Williams in a proof-of-concept short film for a proposed biopic, and in Star Wars fan film “Kenobi.”
Other cast to join the production include fast rising star Jennings Brower (Netflix Dreams), and Zac Garred (“Occupation: Rainfall,” “Australian Gangster” “NCIS”) who is also co-producer.
Producers are named as Carmel Imrie, Carly Sparke and executive producers Geoff Imrie, Luke Sparke, Sean Virgin and Martin Walton.
Myriad Pictures has acquired international sales rights and will launch the film at the European Film Market in Berlin in February. Producer, Sparke Films is negotiating Australian and New Zealand rights.
“This suspenseful action movie is destined to delight fans of car chases and adrenaline pumping special effects,” said Myriad Pictures CEO, Kirk D’Amico, in a prepared statement.
Pepper had a break-through role as a bible-quoting sniper in Stephen Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” before playing in fan favorite “The Green Mile” a year later. More recently he has appeared in “Crawl,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and “Awake.” He is soon to be seen in “Trigger Point” opposite Colm Feore.
Griffiths (“Hilary & Jackie,” “Six Feet Under”) is both actor and director, helming “Ride Like a Girl.” She was most recently seen in “Total Control” and Amazon series “The Wilds.”
Sparke Films has produced the historic two-part TV series “Yesterday Is History,” monster movie “Red Billabong,” alien invasion films “Occupation” and Occupation Rainfall,” starring Temuera Morrison, Ken Jeong and Daniel Gillies. The company is in development on a creature feature “Scurry,” the adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ pre-historic sci-fi novel “Primitive War” and an adaptation of John Birmingham’s trilogy as a TV series currently titled “Weapons of Choice.”
Luke Sparke is represented by Los Angeles-based Creation Management.
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