KARL URBAN, SOFIA VERGARA AND ANDY GARCIA TO STAR IN REVENGE THRILLER “BENT” FROM ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER BOBBY MORESCO
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Media Group Producing with Joseph O’Donnell’s Deadly Codes ProductionsMarch 23, 2017 – Karl Urban (“RED,” “Star Trek,” “Riddick”), multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family,” “Chef, “Machete Kills”) and Academy Award® nominee Andy Garcia (“Ocean’s Eleven,” “The Godfather: Part III”, “The Untouchables”) have signed on to star in the revenge thriller “Bent” for Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Media Group and Joseph O’Donnell’s Deadly Codes Productions.
Academy Award® winner Bobby Moresco (“Crash,” “Million Dollar Baby”) will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote himself, based on characters created by Joseph O’Donnell.
Producers are Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi and Joseph O’Donnell.
“Bent” is a powerful action/suspense/thriller in the classic noir tradition. It’s the redemptive tale of Danny Gallagher (Karl Urban), a shamed and discredited narcotics detective who, upon his release from prison, makes plans to seek revenge on the accuser who framed him and killed his partner. In seeking out the truth of what happened the night his partner was killed, and he was framed, Gallagher investigates the mysterious car bomb murder of a local bookie’s sister. Gallagher soon discovers that the murder is connected to an elaborate conspiracy involving high-stakes treason with major international implications.
The story of the film examines the themes of loyalty and betrayal played out through the vast corruption of our most secret government agencies along with the compelling characters of society’s criminal underbelly. The story’s twists and turns force Gallagher to confront a ruthless, seductive government agent (Sofia Vergara), who may or may not be on his side; and his mentor Murtha (Andy Garcia), a retired cop, who’s fought corruption his entire career.
Producer Andrea Iervolino said, “’Bent’ delivers on the best of film noirs - a main character driven by revenge, who is forced to choose between the truth he knows, the evidence against that truth, and the woman he loves most in the world. Karl, Sofia and Andy are a powerful onscreen trio who have a rich story to work with, thanks to the brilliant story and characters created by Bobby and Joseph.”
Principal photography will commence this month in Rome, Italy.
Karl Urban is represented by UTA. Andy Garcia is represented by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Sofia Vergara is represented by UTA and management company Latin World Entertainment. Bobby Moresco is represented by ICM and Primary Wave Entertainment.
About AMBI AMBI Group is a consortium of vertically integrated film development, production, finance and distribution companies wholly owned and operated by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lady of Bayfield Hall, better known as “Monika Bacardi.”
AMBI has quickly emerged as one of the industry’s most prolific financing, production and sales companies with the capacity to develop, package, finance, produce and sell a broad array of films for worldwide distribution. Among the films on AMBI’s burgeoning film slate are the heist movie “Finding Steve McQueen,” starring Travis Fimmel, Rachael Taylor, William Fichtner and Forest Whitaker, which Mark Steven Johnson is directing; the Andrea Bocelli biopic “The Music of Silence”, directed by Oscar® nominated Michael Radford and starring Antonio Banderas, Toby Sebastian and Jordi Molla; a new Sarah Jessica Parker music-drama, James Franco’s post-apocalyptic thriller “Future World”, starring Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Method Man, Suki Waterhouse, Snoop Dogg, and James Franco; the psychological thriller “Black Butterfly” starring Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Rhys Meyers; a remake of Christopher Nolan’s iconic film “Memento”; “Lamborghini – The Legend,” a biopic on Lamborghini founder Ferruccio Lamborghini to be written by Bobby Moresco; the faith based children’s film “Beyond the Sun,” featuring His Holiness Pope Francis; the contemporary fairy tale “This Beautiful Fantastic” starring Jessica Brown Findlay and Tom Wilkinson; James Franco’s “In Dubious Battle,” featuring an ensemble cast that includes Franco, Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston, Josh Hutcherson, Zach Braff and Sam Shepherd; the 3D, CGI animated family film “Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad” starring Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, James Franco and Anjelica Huston; and the sci-fi thriller “Rupture” starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Chiklis and Peter Stormare.
In 2015, AMBI acquired the Exclusive Media Group film library, which includes an incredibly diverse portfolio of critical hits, commercial blockbusters and cult favorites such as “Begin Again,” “Cruel Intentions,” “Donnie Darko,” “End of Watch,” “Ides of March,” “Hit & Run,” “Memento,” “The Mexican,” “Parkland,” “Rush,” “Sliding Doors,” “Snitch,” “Undefeated” and “The Way Back,” to name a few. In addition to the library titles, AMBI now has the rights to a number of titles within EMG’s active movie development slate, as well as all sequel and remake rights to the popular EMG films.
Andrea Iervolino has produced, funded and distributed over 55 feature films including “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Humbling.” He is considered one of the youngest and most accomplished entrepreneurs in the Italian film industry and was the recipient of the coveted Mimmo Rotella Award for his contributions to the Italian cinema industry - presented to him at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, alongside fellow recipients Al Pacino and Barry Levinson. Iervolino most recently received the Honor of Recognition as Ambassador of Italian Cinema in the World at annual Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF).
Renowned for her passion of modern art and love of photography and movies, Monika Bacardi is a highly successful businesswoman who is now committed to producing films, through AMBI, on top of her numerous philanthropic activities.
For more information on AMBI please visit
http://ambidistribution.com/
