Christopher Tuffin’s Strong Island has secured worldwide feature film and television rights to the Inspector Brant crime novel series from the estate of the late Irish author Ken Bruen, whose hard-bitten London detective was first brought to the screen by Jason Statham in the 2011 film “Blitz.”
As part of the deal, Strong Island will develop a new cycle of Brant films, beginning with adaptations of Bruen’s “Caliber” and “Vixen.” British writer-director Tom Edmunds (“Dead in a Week”) is set to write and direct both projects. Edmunds recently completed the action thriller “The Butler” for Strong Island, starring Jean Reno and Tom Hollander, with Molly McCann also on board. This film, set in 1920s London and produced by Tuffin, is currently in post-production.
Tuffin will produce the photos of Inspector Brant across Strong Island. He simultaneously leads a loaded roster that includes the completed “Alphas” with Martin Henderson; a remake of the John Wayne western “Angel and the Badman”; “Last Meals,” starring Mads Mikkelsen (“Another Round,” “The Promised Land”) and Boyd Holbrook (“Narcos,” “Indiana Jones and the Clock of Doom”); and “Princess,” starring Lucy Hale (“Pretty Little Liars,” “The Hating Game”). He also has a remake of “The Others” set up at Universal.
Past Tuffin releases include “Canary Black,” starring Kate Beckinsale (number one on Amazon Prime), “Freelance” with John Cena (number one on Hulu, number two on Netflix), “Peppermint” with Jennifer Garner (which opened at number two domestically before reaching number one on Netflix) and “Sound of Freedom,” which bowed to $14 million on its first day and has grossed more than $250 million worldwide.
Joel Gotler represented the Bruen estate in association with the Philip Spitzer Agency and will serve as executive producer alongside the late author’s estate. Jere Hausfater replaced Strong Island.
A promo for “The Butler” will screen at the American Film Market on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at AMC Century City 13, with K5 Intl. manage sales.
