Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) has closed a deal to star in Fairytale in New York, a Lionsgate action thriller from director Jalmari Helander (Sisu), for which the studio is launching international sales at AFM.
Set to be produced by FlynnPictureCo.’s Beau Flynn, Fairytale takes place on Christmas Eve in New York City, as an unassuming cab driver takes one last ride before going to celebrate the holiday with his estranged son. After a run-in with a gang of criminals, he embarks on a relentless pursuit to retrieve his kid’s priceless Christmas gift.
Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, Flynn’s collaborators on DC superhero pic Black Adam, wrote the script. Scott Sheldon will exec produce for FlynnPictureCo, with Shelby Thomas overseeing the project for the company. James Myers is overseeing for Lionsgate, for whom Dan Freedman negotiated deals.
In a statement on the new project, Adam Fogelson, chair, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said, “As soon as we watched Sisu, we knew Jalmari was a filmmaker we wanted to be in business with again. Fairytale in New York is a wildly entertaining, thrill ride of an action film and an emotionally resonant story about family. And every once in a while, an actor hits their prime—Ke Huy Quan is having that moment right now and his deep experience crafting action in front of and behind the camera as well as his exceptional likability make him the perfect actor for this project.”
On the heels of his Supporting Actor Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Quan signed on to lead Love Hurts, an action comedy for Universal Pictures and 87North, which releases in theaters worldwide ahead of Valentine’s Day, on February 7, 2025. In the film marking theatrical feature debut is Jonathan Eusebio, a longtime 2nd unit director and stunt coordinator, he stars opposite West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose. Also soon to be seen in the Russo brothers’ The Electric State for Netflix, which launches next March, his recent TV credits include Loki and American Born Chinese.
Helander reunites with Lionsgate on the heels of Sisu, an action thriller sitting at 94% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which was a Midnight Madness selection at TIFF. The film earned nearly $7 million in limited release last year.
Haines and Noshirvani also co-wrote the acclaimed Guantanamo Bay drama The Mauritanian, starring Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim, whereas Flynn’s other credits include the action spectacles Red Notice and Jungle Cruise, the indie classic Requiem for a Dream, and the upcoming live-action Moana for Disney.
Quan is represented by UTA and Cohen & Gardner; Helander by WME and Jerome Duboz of Ithaka Media; Haines and Noshirvani by CAA, Grandview, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; and Flynn by Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.