The Feature Film Adaptation of AWA’s Fan-Favorite Graphic Novel is
Part of a Slate of Projects Being Developed In-House
by the Studio Arm of the Graphic Fiction Publisher
LOS ANGELES, CA – July 11, 2023 – AWA Studios, the film and television division of Artists, Writers & Artisans (AWA), the independent developer of bold and relevant stories from the world’s most outstanding creators, today announced that celebrated Māori filmmaker, James Ashcroft will direct the feature film adaptation of Old Haunts, based on the popular graphic novel published by AWA.
Ashcroft is best known for his critically acclaimed film Coming Home In the Dark, which premiered in the Midnight Section at The Sundance Film Festival in 2021. He will be directing the Old Haunts adaptation from a script by in-demand scribe Aaron Rabin, who is hot off of the newly launched Marvel series, Secret Invasion. Producing for AWA Studios is Zach Studin. Since the world premiere of Coming Home In The Dark at Sundance, Ashcroft has become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after rising filmmakers in the genre space, having announced projects in the works with AGBO, Legendary, and Netflix.
Zach Studin, President, AWA Studios, said, “James Ashcroft is a cinematic force, with an incredible vision for this explosive story that collides the genres of crime and horror. His ability to capture heart-wrenching performances, while delivering gripping tension, dread, and propulsive thrills make him the perfect director for this film.”
“I’ve always been drawn to the thrill of a sophisticated ghost story, but it’s the literal ghosts of one’s past – the specters of regret, hubris and trauma – that are often the most terrifying,” added Ashcroft. “This is what lies at the dark heart of Old Haunts, and I couldn’t be more excited about realizing it for the screen with this incredible company of collaborators.”
Blending the horror and gangster genres, Old Haunts follows three made men standing on the brink of retirement, who find their unbreakable bond put to the test when they are suddenly assaulted by the ghosts of their past. Confronted by decades of buried secrets – resentments, affairs, double-crosses, and murders – the three friends have no choice but to unearth the deepest, darkest sin from their past and pray they don’t find an empty grave. The original comic series was written by Ollie Masters (The Kitchen, Snow Blind) and Rob Williams (Out, Low Life, Ghost Rider), drawn by artist Laurence Campbell (Breathing Space, The Punisher, BPRD), colored by Lee Loughridge, lettered by Sal Cipriano, and edited by AWA Founder and Chief Creative Officer Axel Alonso.
Introduced in 2021 as AWA’s film and television studio and helmed by Hollywood veteran Zach Studin, AWA Studios has quickly amassed a robust film and TV operation, kicked off by the announcement of feature film adaptations of Chariot by Bryan Edward Hill and Priscilla Petraites, which Warner Bros. acquired in competitive bidding; Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal by Garth Ennis and Goran Sudzuka, which Ruben Fleischer will direct; and Hotell by John Lees and Dalibor Talajić, to be directed by Elle Callahan, among additional projects currently in active development at industry leading Studios, Streamers & Networks.
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