Shogun Films, Daniel Zirilli Kick Off Partnership With Lee Majors, Danny Trejo Film ‘Renegades’
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London-basted genre outfit Shogun Films has commenced a creative partnership with prolific U.S. director/producer Daniel Zirilli (“Acceleration,” “Invincible”).
The first film to secure funding under the partnership is “Renegades.” Financing has been secured from Insight Media Fund, negotiated by Samahoma Media Advisors, with Bob Clarke and Gareth Jones executive producing, as well as from private equity.
“Renegades” is a London-set revenge movie described by Shogun as “ ‘Harry Brown’ meets ‘The Wild Geese’ ” which sees a quartet of ex-Special Forces vets taking on the Eastern European gang that killed their comrade. The cast includes Lee Majors (“The Six Million Dollar Man”), Danny Trejo (“Machete”), Michael Paré (“Gone”), Ian Ogilvy (“We Still Kill the Old Way”) and Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister (“The Fifth Element”). The lead actor is yet to be announced.
Initial U.S. sequences have already been shot and production now moves to London this winter.
“I feel blessed to be able to work with these legendary U.K. actors, and American cast I’ve worked with for years: Trejo, Lister, and Paré,” said Zirilli. “Shooting action in the streets of London will be a literal blast. We’re aiming to make a truly elevated genre movie.”
“It is no secret that there is a coming paucity of content for audiences on every kind of platform,” said Bob Clarke of Samahoma Media Advisors. “We can move quickly to introduce funding and practical support for people like the Shogun team who have a proven ability to work quickly and cost effectively in this virus impacted landscape. Together we can play our part in plugging the content gap for audiences whilst making good returns for investors.”
Shogun founder Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott said: “Although set in London, this is a truly international action movie with a cast of iconic genre legends. The film is non-stop, hard-hitting action and Daniel Zirilli is delivering to an incredibly high standard. As commercial genre movies go, ‘Renegades’ ticks all the boxes. This is a game changer and our strategic partnership with Daniel is our unique strength as a U.K.-based production company.”
“Renegades” is expected to be ready to screen at the Cannes market in 2021 and the producers are currently talking to sales agents.
“It is our intention to make Shogun the home of commercial genre movies in Europe,” Shogun’s Danny Bear. “It was always our aim to shake things up and our focus on action and thrillers will hopefully set us apart in this space. ‘Renegades’ is a great launchpad for this and we are so excited to bring it to market.”
Shogun currently has “Nemesis,” directed by James Crow (“Black Creek”), starring Julian Glover, Steven Berkoff and Nick Moran, in post. Next up with Zirilli is “Intercept,” a high-octane rescue mission action movie written by Larry Coulter (“That ’80s Guy).
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