Vertical Entertainment Acquires Thriller ‘Delia’s Gone’ Starring Stephan James, Marisa Tomei, Travis Fimmel, Paul Walter Hauser & More

Matt Grobar
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has locked down U.S. rights to the starry dramatic thriller Delia’s Gone, from writer-director Robert Budreau (Born to Be Blue), slating it for release in theaters nationwide on August 19.

The film follows Louis (Golden Globe nominee Stephan James), who has an intellectual disability and lives with his older sister Delia (Genelle Williams) amidst her struggles with addiction following their father’s death. After a night of drinking, Delia’s truck is found abandoned at a bar, drawing suspicion from the local sheriff (Oscar winner Marisa Tomei) who soon discovers she’s been killed. All evidence points to Louis who, pressured by police, pleads guilty and is sentenced to five years in prison for his sister’s murder. Upon release, Louis is confined to a home care facility where he is visited by Stacker (Travis Fimmel), one of the men to last see Delia alive, who implies that there is more to her death than meets the eye. Armed with this new information, Louis escapes the facility on a personal mission to find who is responsible for Delia’s mysterious death.

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Delia’s Gone also stars Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird) and Hamza Haq (Transplant). The film based on a story by Michael Hamblin was produced by Budreau and Jonathan Bronfman. Exec producers on the project included James, William G. Santor, Andrew Chang-Sang, John Hills, Adam Moryto, Michael Hamblin, Patrick Roy, Anne-Clare Villenueve, Mark Gingras, John Laing and Daniel Baur.

The film’s release will be accompanied by a social impact campaign—spearheaded by impact producers Bonnie Abaunza, Kathleen Rodgers, and Bryce Cracknell of GSD Group—which will invite audiences to join activists, advocates and organizers to reimagine public safety as a system of care, healing, and prevention. Radiant Films is handling all international distribution rights.

“Delia’s Gone writer-director Robert Budreau delivered a nuanced and impactful story of one man’s journey of loss, resilience, and redemption with Stephan James’ powerful performance leaving audiences captivated,” said the film’s producers in a joint statement. “We couldn’t have asked for a more talented ensemble cast to bring the story to life and we look forward to bringing the film to audiences this August to experience for themselves.”

“Delia’s Gone is an emotionally compelling thriller showcasing the sacrifice one person will go through for the ones they love,” added Vertical Entertainment Partner, Peter Jarowey. “The film features a world class cast and an incredible team behind it at Productivity Media, who we worked with in the past on Four Good Days. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be partnering again on such an impactful story.”

Vertical Entertainment is a global independent distributor, founded in 2012, which also recently acquired Thom Harp’s comedy The Donor Party, Katie Holmes’ Tribeca-premiering romantic drama Alone Together, and the political satire Land of Dreams, staring Sheila Vand, Matt Dillon and more, which likewise debuted at the New York festival. Also coming up for the company is John Patton Ford’s Sundance 2022 pic Emily the Criminal, starring Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi, which it will release alongside Roadside Attractions in August.

Jarowey and Rich Goldberg negotiated the deal for Delia’s Gone on behalf of Vertical Entertainment.

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