Magnet Releasing has acquired North American rights from XYZ Films to Welsh film-maker Gareth Huw Evans’ Indonesian martial arts action-thriller Merantau.

Meanwhile the film’s international sales agent Golden Network Asia has licensed rights to E1 in the UK, WE Productions in France, Tiberius in Germany, Prorom Media in Romania, and Scorpio East Pictures in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

Merantau centres on a young man involved in an ancient rite of passage who finds himself protecting a go-go dancer on the run from human traffickers. Evans wrote the screenplay.

Newcomers and Indonesian silat fighters Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian star. Ario Sagantoro produced and Rangga Maya Barack-Evans served as executive producer.
 
Todd Brown negotiated the North American deal on behalf of XYZ with Magnet’s senior vice-president Tom Quinn.
 
The film premiered at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival last July and subsequently opened theatrically in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

In a statement the XYZ partners said, “We are thrilled about partnering up with Magnet to bring this incredibly entertaining and jaw-dropping action thriller to North American audiences.

“Gareth is an extremely talented young film-maker and breathes new life into a genre and style that global audiences have not experienced in 20 years.”

XYZ Films most recently brokered a deal for international rights with Cinemavault for Australian thriller The Nothing Men, which receives its market premiere at EFM.

The company’s production slate includes the recently announced feature Land Of The Free with Ric Roman Waugh set to direct, as well as a heist film with Darren Aronofsky, and a crime thriller about auto industry maverick John DeLorean.

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