Dark Castle Entertainment to Produce Claustrophobic Thriller ‘Zealot’

Dark Castle Entertainment (Shell, Orphan: First Kill) has come on board to produce and finance Zealot, Variety reports, and it’s set to star Djimon Hounsou (A Quiet Place: Day One, Rebel One) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Elvis, Let Me In).

WestEnd Films announced the claustrophobic thriller at Cannes and continues sales this week at AFM.

Zealot is, “a film about privilege, paranoia, and the assumptions we make about one another. The film follows Hassan, a Somali-American airport shuttle driver in Minneapolis, who is struggling to make ends meet. When Lloyd, a stranded twenty something at the airport, offers to pay Hassan to take him overland to Chicago, it seems worth the risk. But as the realization grows that his passenger is not what he seems, Hassan finds he is trapped in a terrifying ride which he can’t escape from, knowing that to save himself might put countless others in danger.”

The thriller is directed by Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog, Persian Lessons) and written by playwright Bennett Fisher. Zealot is based on his award-winning play Damascus.

“The collection of talent, both in front of and behind the camera, that has been drawn to this project speaks to the caliber of this relentless and timely thriller,’ said Golightly, co-CEO, Dark Castle Entertainment. “Reminiscent of films like Collateral, audiences will be not only be on the edge of their seats, but they’ll have a lot to think about on their way home.”

The film is produced by Jib Polhemus (“Old Guy,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”), alongside Norman Golightly (“Last Breath,” “Shell”) on behalf of Dark Castle. Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant of Amasia Entertainment are executive producing.

Dark Castle Entertainment is keeping very busy lately. Look for Shell on the horizon, and the label just boarded the Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick helmed horror comedy Family Movie.