Magnolia Pictures has acquired the U.S. rights to the Toronto International Film Festival breakout film “40 Acres” starring Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson,” “Till”).
The action-thriller, which comes from debut feature filmmaker R.T. Thorne, also stars Michael Greyeyes (“Firestarter”). The film premiered at TIFF in 2024, gaining wide applause from its audience and film critics. It was listed as one of the festival’s Top 10 films from that year.
The film also stars Kataem O’Connor, Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc, Haile Amare, Elizabeth Saunders and Tyrone Benskin. In March, “40 Acres” will make its U.S. premiere at the South by Southwest film festival, which will be followed by a summer theatrical release.
“Writer-director R.T. Thorne has delivered an incredible, intense vision of a world on edge,” Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley said in a Thursday statement. “Danielle Deadwyler’s towering performance as a total badass is one for the ages.”
The film is set in a famine-decimated near future where a former soldier (Deadwyler) and her family struggle to protect their farm as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their land, per Magnolia Pictures.
“’40 Acres’ is the type of edge-of-your-seat thriller I used to sneak into theatres to watch when I was growing up, with unforgettable characters and tension-filled action,” Thorne shared. “There’s no greater universal stakes than a family fighting to survive together, and it’s a dream to be working with Magnolia to bring the wild ride of this unique family’s survival story to theatrical audiences everywhere.”
“40 Acres” was co-written by Thorne and Glenn Taylor. The film was produced by Jennifer Holness and executive produced by Taj Critchlow, Sudz Sutherland, John Lang, Mark Gingras, Andrew Frank, David Hudakoc, Thorne and Deadwyler via A Hungry Eyes Media Production with 4T Productions Inc. in association with Fela and Backhome. The deal was negotiated by Magnolia SVP of Acquisitions John Von Thaden with president of Visit Films Ryan Kampe.
