Simon Rex is about to star alongside Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Grace Palmer in God Bless You, Mr Kopu, the debut characteristic movie from Tongan–New Zealand director Alex Liu.
The actor had a profession resurgence due to his function in Crimson Rocket, and is now set to star within the new movie written by Alex, which can start principal images subsequent week in Auckland, New Zealand.
Selection reported the challenge can be launched to consumers on the American Movie Market (AFM), with Radiant Movies Worldwide dealing with worldwide gross sales.
AC Impartial will characterize North American rights, whereas Umbrella Leisure will oversee distribution in Australia and New Zealand.
God Bless You, Mr Kopu is described as a darkish comedic thriller centred on Mafu, performed by Dimitrius, a struggling Tongan immigrant who turns into the protégé of charismatic American salesman Marco Cass, portrayed by Simon.
What begins as a dream job quickly descends right into a nightmare as Mafu begins to query his mentor’s manipulative strategies.
Alex, whose brief movie The Crimson Room premiered at SXSW Sydney, stated his purpose as a filmmaker has all the time been “to show audiences to Tongan tales in methods we haven’t seen earlier than.”
He was quoted by Selection saying: “God Bless You, Mr Kopu is a twisted trip with a Tongan protagonist that wears its style affect on its sleeve.”
Simon was additionally quoted by the outlet including: “Alex is a gifted filmmaker, I like the script, and I can’t look ahead to international audiences to expertise his genius. It’s gonna be crispy.”
The movie is produced by Roxi Bull for Velvet Moss and Tania Chambers of Feisty Dame Productions.
Govt producers embrace Velvet Moss’ Emma Slade and Timpson Movies’ Ant Timpson, together with Simon, who will produce via his newly launched Crispy Productions banner.
Further govt producers are Toby Nalbandian and Gregory Schmidt for Truant Photos, in addition to Mimi Steinbauer and A.C. Neel for Radiant Movies Worldwide.
They’re joined by Ari Harrison and Jasmin McSweeney from Umbrella Leisure, alongside Grady Habib and Beatriz Martins from Sandbox.
The characteristic marks one of many first main Tongan-led worldwide co-productions, combining artistic expertise from New Zealand, Australia and the US.
