James R | On 12, Jun 2018

Sky Cinema is expanding its slate of upcoming Original films with titles starring Matthew McConaughey, Oscar Isaac and Zac Efron.

Sky Cinema Original Films – which releases movies in cinemas and on Sky Cinema on the same day – is part of Sky’s bid to position itself as a major player that can compete with Netflix and Amazon’s increasing push into original feature film development. Sky Cinema is primarily in the business of acquiring titles for release as exclusive content, with a focus on smaller films that have big-name stars – not unlike the strategy employed by successful day-and-date distributor Signature.

So far, Sky Cinema Original Films have included animated adventure Monster Family, disaster thriller The Hurricane Heist and cyber mystery Anon. Now, Sky Cinema has snapped up the rights to a number of new titles, including Life Itself and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

Life Itself is a moving tale of two families interconnecting over multiple generations. Written and directed by Dan Fogelman, the creator of This Is Us, it boasts an all-star cast, including Oscar Isaac, Olivia Cooke and Antonio Banderas.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile sees acclaimed true crime documentary maker Joe Berlinger travel back into the world of narrative film with a chilling and disturbing thriller telling the story of serial killer Ted Bundy, and stars Zac Efron as Bundy, alongside Lily Collins, John Malkovich and Jim Parsons.

Sky Cinema also secured UK distribution rights to Matthew McConaughey-led noir thriller Serenity.

They all join upcoming British action thriller Final Score, which stars Dave Bautista and Pierce Brosnan. Set in London and directed by British director Scott Mann, it sees action hero Bautista embark on saving thousands when a football match he is attending is threatened by terrorists. Final Score will be released by Sky Cinema in September 2018.

Sky Cinema Group Director Ian Lewis comments: “I’m thrilled that we’ve acquired these fantastic titles to add to our Sky Cinema Original Films offering. It takes our originals slate to another level with some great films that we’re really excited about bringing to the UK market. They’re all really fantastic propositions with some big names attached and will get people down to the cinema or watching on Sky Cinema.”

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