Ahead of it's North American premiere here in Toronto next month RLJ Entertainment has acquired the North American rights for Paul Schrader's Dog Eat Dog starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe. As you will read in the press announcement excerpt below RLJ plans to release the film in cinemas and On Demand in November. I presume there will be a hard copy release shortly after that.
RLJ Entertainment (NASDAQ: RLJE) has acquired all North American rights to the highly anticipated action thriller DOG EAT DOG. Based on the novel by Edward Bunker, DOG EAT DOG was written by Matthew Wilder (Your Name Here) and directed by Paul Schrader (Affliction, American Gigolo, Taxi Driver). The film stars Nicolas Cage (Snowden, Leaving Las Vegas), Willem Dafoe (Justice League, Platoon) and Christopher Matthew Cook (2 Guns). The film first premiered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival to great reviews and will have its North American premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival in September. At a press event in Cannes, Schrader described Dog Eat Dog as “nasty, evil and a lot of fun.”The deal was negotiated by Mark Ward on behalf of RLJ Entertainment and Mark Earl Burman of ADME on behalf of the filmmakers. RLJE plans to release DOG EAT DOG in theaters and On Demand in November 2016. Ward, RLJE’s Chief Acquisitions Officer, made the announcement today.“The legendary Paul Schrader once again uses his relentless talent and vision to create amazing cinema,” said Ward. “Shot with a distinct point-of-view, Cage and Dafoe bring their absolute best to showcase the rawness and grittiness of this incredible film.”DOG EAT DOG tells the story of three ex-cons who botch a kidnapping. They not only lose a rich payoff, but they get on the wrong side of the mob and become the city’s most wanted fugitives. Vowing to stay out of prison at all costs, things get completely out of control as they go on the run from everyone.
ScreenAnarchy is currently working on sitting down with the director during his visit to Toronto next month and talking with him about this film and his career.