‘Captive’: Australian Thriller From ‘Back Of The Net’ Director Louise Alston Lands International Deal

EXCLUSIVE: UK sales outfit SC Films International has acquired world rights to the thriller Captive from producer Antony I. Ginnane (Screamers), and to be directed by Louise Alston (Back of the Net).

The film is set to start production this autumn. Billed as a “thrilling kidnap and ransom story,” the pic follows Mav, who wakes up in a confined space next to a dead body. She is tied and gagged and realizes she has been kidnapped. Her kidnapper explains that he knows she is the daughter of the richest woman in the State. He wants a $20,000,000 ransom paid in 12 hours, or he will kill her like the other passenger. A cat-and-mouse game ensues as her mother is unwilling to pay the ransom and neither the kidnappee nor the kidnapper are what they seem.

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The pic comes from a screenplay by Stephen Vagg (All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane) and was inspired by films like Phonebooth and Buried. Ginnane, who has over 70 credits, including pics like The Girl At The Window, said Captive will be a “nail-biting suspense thriller that will hold an audience spellbound from its astounding beginning through to its unexpected conclusion.”

“Louise Alston will infuse the film with her unique sensibility and mind-bending terror,” he added.

Alston added: “Captive is a gripping thriller about a woman trapped in the trunk of a speeding car with a corpse, mobile phone low on battery, and with hours to save her life. This story elevates the kidnap thriller genre by tapping into primal themes of family jealousy and greed.”

SC Films’ slate for the upcoming Cannes includes new footage on animated features Dragonkeeper, Girl In The Clouds, Ark At 8, and Headspace, alongside live-action pics On Fire, Little Bone Lodge, and December.

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