Ethan Hawke Thriller 'The Purge' to Hit Theaters May 2013

The Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey thriller The Purge will open in theaters May 31.

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Universal is financing and releasing the micro-budgeted film per its deal with Jason Blum, who produced The Purge with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes.

Written and directed by James DeMonaco, the movie is set in an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons. Every year, the government sanctions a 12-hour period during which any and all criminal activity -- including murder -- is legal.

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When an intruder breaks into the gated community where James Sandin (Hawke) lives, he sets off a sequence of events that threatens to tear Sandin's family apart as they try to survive the night without turning into the monsters from which they hide.

Producers are Blum, Bay and Platinum Dunes' Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, as well as Sebastien Kurt Lemercier.

So far, The Purge has the May 31-June 2 weekend to itself. The weekend before -- Memorial Day -- sees the debut of Universal's Fast & Furious 6 and Warner Bros.' The Hangover Part III.