Toronto: Tom Hardy Thriller ‘Locke’ Goes to A24

Steven Knight’s edgy drama finds a home in festival’s first major deal

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Steven Knight‘s “Locke” has been acquired by A24 in the first major deal of the Toronto Film Festival.

The distributor said Saturday it has acquired North American rights to the Tom Hardy thriller from IM Global. It screened for buyers Friday at the festival.

Written and directed by Oscar nominated Knight (“Dirty Pretty Things”), “Locke” could be a tricky movie to market for A24. It’s an intense psychological study mainly featuring Hardy driving from Birmingham to London and dealing with a series of issues on speaker phone.

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“A24 is exactly the right kind of ballsy, innovative distributor that an astonishing film like ‘Locke’ needs” IM Global’s cheif executive Stuart Ford said in a statement. “We are all delighted to be in business with the highly impressive A24 team whose passion and vision for the film gave them a leading edge on everyone else.”

A24 earlier this year released “Spring Breakers” “The Bling Ring” and “The Spectacular Now.”

“Locke” was fully financed by IM Global under their specialty label Acclaim. and produced by Paul Webster and Guy Heeley of Shoebox Produtions. A24 negotiated the deal with CAA and IM Global. IM Global, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance ADA, is also selling international rights.

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