Simon Crowe’s ambitious new sales outfit SC Films closed a slew of deals on its Josh Hartnett vehicle Gunslinger ahead of AFM.

The $16 million post-apocalyptic thriller has been pre-bought by Wild Bunch for Germany and Benelux, Scandbox for Scandinavia, Odeon for Greece, and ECS for the Middle East. It is backed by financier Future Films.

Chris Nahon will director and Mark Williams will produce the project, which is due to start shooting early next year. Anna Anissimova will star alongside Hartnett.

Aimed at the 14 to 30 year old audience, Gunslinger is set in the near future following the collapse world economy, governments have crumbled and the power has gone out. Hartnett is to play Jake, a former engineer, out for revenge against the psychopathic killers who murdered his family.

“The pre-sale market is not dead for the right movie,’ an upbeat Crowe declared in Santa Monica this week. “Distributors are going to be cautious because cash flow is the really problem for everyone, but if they see a movie that has potential to be profitable on all the different levels of release, then buyers are going to buy.”

SC Films, which was launched late last year as a joint venture between Crowe and Aurelius Investments, is also pre-selling The Romantics, Galt Niederhoffer’s romantic drama starring Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin and Elijah Wood. The film began shooting this week in New York.

Meanwhile, the company is introducing buyers to supernatural thriller, The Cold. From the producers behind Frozen River, the film follows seven friends on a hunting trip who realise that the only thing being hunted is themselves. Shane West and Jesse Bradford are attached to the film, which is due to shoot next year.

The company is also handling Cosi, starring Richard E. Grant and Sarah Brightman. Entertainment is already on board for the UK and Transmission has taken Australian rights. SC has some early footage to show buyers in Santa Monica.

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