British Filmmaker Eyes Far East for First Thriller

LONDON – British writer/director Alastair Paton has assembled an eclectic international cast and is planning an exotic location shoot for his action movie 400 Boys, scheduled to shoot in October.

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Paton's movie, billed as a fast-paced thriller set amid a youth subculture, has secured the acting chops of Canadian actress and youngest ever Emmy Award-nominee Jodelle Ferland (Twilight Saga:  Eclipse, The Cabin in the Woods, Tideland), Goya winning Spanish actress Maria Valverde (Cracks, The Weakness of the Bolshevik) , Elliot Knight (Sinbad), Charlie Rowe (Neverland), Jack Derges (Dungeons & Dragons:  The Book of Vile Darkness, Passengers), German actress  Chiara von Galli (SOKO 5113), Jonny Burt (Fanny Hill) and Lucy Boynton (Miss Potter, Sense & Sensibility).

Former French international World Cup-winning soccer star-turned-actor Frank Lebeouf (Taking Sides), Chinese actress BingBing Li (Resident Evil:  Retribution) and pop sensation Karena NG are also on board for the movie set for an eight week shoot on location in Hong Kong, Macau and at Guangzhou’s ACE Studios in China.

Paton's script is a race against time where the old are trapped in worn out bodies and the young fear life more than death and a battle between old and young commences.

Producers are Bill Chamberlain (Carmen, A Fox’s Tale) and Paton for China Hollywood Film and TV Entertainment. The film is budgeted at $26 million. Paton is a commercials director by day and has worked extensively in China before this and is a production designer.

The title has already secured a 6,500 screen release in China through Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution and a number of key international territories are sold including Spain, Latin America, France and French-speaking Canada, Australia, Germany, Scandinavia, Benelux and Eastern Europe.

China Hollywood Film & Television Entertainment's Ricky Tong said:"We loved the director’s vision and the material was fresh, pacy and exciting. This movie is for the youth audience worldwide."

Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution’s Raymond Wong added: "It’s an original story, a great script, is fast, has a young cast and with a 16-30 target audience, it’s the perfect film for us to release in China.”