Moviehouse takes on Stuart Urban's May I Kill U?, Simon Phillips' Riot

May I Kill U?, the macabre new satirical comedy-thriller from writer-producer-director Stuart Urban (Our Friends In The North, An Ungentlemanly Act) is to be sold internationally by Moviehouse Entertainment. It will be introduced to buyers at the Cannes market next month.

Set against the backdrop of last summer’s London riots, the film tells the story of police officer Barry ‘Baz’ Vartis (Kevin Bishop), a mobile cycle cop who becomes a Batman-like vigilante. He decides to ‘clean up’ the streets of London in a particularly unhealthy and violent way, all the while uploading his actions to the internet via various social networking sites and as he does so, gains a cult following.

Alongside Bishop, the cast includes Frances Barber, Jack Doolan, Rosemary Leach and newcomer Haley-Marie Axe in her feature debut.

The film is a Vectis Vision Presentation of a Cyclops Vision Production, Cyclops being Urban’s production entity with joint producer Alan Jay and co-producer Rosa Russo.

May I Kill U? Is produced by Stuart Urban, Alan Jay and co-produced by Rosa Russo. Mark Vennis and his co-Managing Director at Moviehouse Entertainment, Gary Phillips, are Executive Producers.

“We‘re really excited to be working with Mark and Gary, they’ve recognised the potential in and been very supportive of the project since last summer,” Jay commented of the partnership with Moviehouse.

Moviehouse is also handling sales (excluding the UK and Germany) on another film set against the London riots, this one a hard hitting crime thriller entitled Riot.

Riot is a production of Simon Phillips’ and Jonathan Sothcott’s new production company Chata Pictures, which also made White Collar Hooligan and is currently shooting Paul Tanter’s The Ice Cream Wars. Phillips makes his directorial debut, while Sothcott (Elfie Hopkins) produces.

Sothcott said: “Simon is a natural director – he has a natural empathy with actors having been one himself and he is incredibly accomplished technically. As one of the finest producers in the industry he also knows how to wring every penny of production value out of a shot. Simon’s chosen his first film as a director well – this is an incredibly powerful British crime film that is going to resonate with people more than anything else I see on the horizon. This really is a film for today.”

Riot filmed on location and at Wimbledon Studios. Nick Nevern starts as a cop who must choose between his friends and his duty. The cast also features Charlie Bond, Lorraine Stanley and Steven Berkoff.

Moviehouse will screen a Riot promo in Cannes.

Chata is also planning horror comedy Strippers Vs Vampires and a steam-punk adaptation of Masque of the Red Death, all to shoot this year.