‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ Producer Shannon McIntosh Sets Martial Arts Movie Slate With UK Firm GFM
By Andreas Wiseman
Co-International Editor
@AndreasWiseman


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EXCLUSIVE: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood producer and Quentin Tarantino regular collaborator Shannon McIntosh has set a four-picture venture with Evolution Pictures, the genre label of UK sales outfit GFM Films.

McIntosh Films will team with Evolution on four martial arts action movies, which will be produced by McIntosh and H. Daniel Gross (Halloween: Resurrection), formerly of Blackbelt TV.

Two films are due to be shot in Thailand, with the other two lined up to be made in the US. The team is aiming to shoot the first feature in early 2020. GFM Films will handle world sales and will launch the slate at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival.

According to the team, the movies will feature a mix of “new young martial arts talent and well-established American & Asian stars of the genre.”

McIntosh and Gross, who have also been developing a martial-arts-themed series, said of the venture, “Joining forces with GFM on this slate is thrilling for all of us. Martial arts have a deep history in cinema, and these projects present an exciting opportunity to bring action-packed genre films grounded in strong scripts to the screen. There’s an audience for these films, and a dedicated one at that. There’s a true love for martial arts films, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to enter the arena with Evolution Pictures & GFM by our side.”

Fred Hedman of Evolution said, “We are delighted to be working with Shannon and Dan to bring this unique opportunity to the marketplace. These four English-language kung fu/action movies will showcase new young martial arts talent, whilst at the same time drawing on well-established American & Asian stars of the genre. This venture furthers our ambitions for Evolution Pictures in becoming an established production arm and genre label of GFM Films and we could not be more excited.”

Run by Guy Collins, Fred Hedman and Michael Ryan, GFM’s slate includes in-the-works animation Blazing Samurai, which is now being directed by Rob Minkoff (The Lion King), completed John Cleese rom-com The Naked Wanderer, and animations A Wizard’s Tale, which has Lily Collins among the voice cast, and Duck Duck Goose, whose voice cast includes Jim Gaffigan and Zendaya.

Evolution’s development slate includes thriller The Ledge, about a female climber trapped on the face of a mountain who must fight off four killers on a ledge above her.
I wish this article had dropped some working titles. For now, this will have to live on our Once Upon A Time In Hollywood & Blazing Samurai threads.