Madrid based outfit 6 Sales has sold Agora scriptwriter Mateo Gil’s Blackthorn, starring Sam Shepard and Eduardo Noriega, to indie distributor Vertice Cine for release in Spain.

Currently in post production, the new Western stars Shepard as famous outlaw Butch Cassidy living in Bolivia under the alias James Blackthorn who decides to return to the US, but gets caught up in a heist of a mining company with a young Spaniard (Noriega).

The other key cast members include Stephen Rea as Sheriff McKenley, an old nemesis of Butch Cassidy, and Magaly Solier, best known for her role in Claudia Llosa’s Oscar-nominated drama The Milk Of Sorrow, who plays Blackthorn’s girlfriend.

Production duties for the film are split between veteran producer Andres Santana’s Madrid based outfit Aiete-Ariane Films and Ibon Cormenzana’s Barcelona based Arcadia Motion Pictures.

Gil has had an illustrious scriptwriting career working alongside Alejandro Amenabar on all his Spanish-language films, including Oscar winner The Sea Inside, and English-language historical drama Agora, which took $30m at the local box office.

6 Sales’ Marina Fuentes confirmed to Screen that Blackthorn should be ready for delivery by March and they are weighing up which festival would best suit its premiere.

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