Timothy Olyphant, star of the new “Santa Clarita Diet” has joined Thomas Mann in the dark comedy “Beef” with John Stalberg Jr. directing.
The Exchange will be handling international sales at the Berlin Film Festival. It announced three months ago at the American Film Market that it had acquired international sales rights and attached Mann. WME Global is handling domestic rights.
The project’s script, written by Jeff Lock, made the 2014 Black List of best unproduced screenplays.
The story centers on a small town fast food manager, played by Mann, who gets in way over his head with the brutal local crime syndicate — headed by Olyphant — after losing a $10,000 bet that was supposed to be a sure thing. With only 24 hours to outwit a gallery of thugs, the manger decides his only way out is to rob his own restaurant, called Beefy’s.
Tom McNulty from MC2 Entertainment is producing. His credits include “Date Night” and “The Spectacular Now.”
Olyphant was nominated for an Emmy for the FX series “Justified.” He stars with Drew Barrymore and serves as an executive producer on Netflix’s new dark comedy series “Santa Clarita Diet,” which launches Friday.
Olyphant is represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Arcieri & Associates.
The Exchange lineup includes Lin Oeding’s “Office Uprising,” “A Street Cat Named Bob,” “Kickboxer: Vengeance,” the documentary “Gleason” and will introduce “Ghost House.” It’s launching production on Stephanie Laing’s “Irreplaceable You.”
