John Cena ‘Freelance’ Sells Worldwide – The Hollywood Reporter

Proving there is always an international market for full-octane action, global buyers have jumped aboard Freelance, a new action-comedy from Taken director Pierre Morel set to star The Suicide Squad/Peacemaker actor John Cena.

Stuart Ford’s AGC International closed pre-sale deals for the upcoming film with major independent buyers across Europe and Asia, including with Splendid Films for Germany, Vertice Cine for Italy, Spain, Portugal and Latin America, Signature Entertainment for the U.K, Ireland and Scandinavia, DHL Studios for South Korea, as well as Roadshow for Australia and New Zealand. Other pre-sold territories include Benelux (The Searchers), Canada (VVS), Russia and the Baltics (Volga Film), Poland (Monolith Films), India (MVP), Israel (United King) and South Africa (Empire), among others.

Crystal Bourbeau, AGC president of worldwide sales and distribution, who negotiated the deals, said talks are underway for the few remaining unsold territories. UTA and ICM are handling U.S. distribution rights on Freelance alongside AGC. The film is co-financed by AGC together with Endurance Entertainment.

Cena will star as a former Army Ranger who has become bored with the settled life of a family man. So when an old military buddy offers him a job, working security for the award-winning journalist Claire Wellington, who has just scored an interview with a notorious and eccentric South American dictator, he jumps at the chance. Everything, of course, goes wrong, and they are caught up in a military coup and forced to run for their lives.

Freelance is set to begin principal photography in Colombia early next year. Endurance Media’s Steve Richards and Sentient Entertainment’s Christopher Tuffin and Renee Tab will produce.