Timothy Olyphant is attached to star in Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego's gritty modern thriller "The Man on Carrion Road," which marks the first film in a two-picture deal between Atlas Independent and Relativity International.
Atlas Independent, which is an affiliate company of Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment, will produce the movies, while newly-formed Relativity International will co-finance and handle foreign sales.
Penned by rising screenwriter Nils Lyew, the visceral story concerns a botched Mexican cartel deal in the back roads of a border town whose new sheriff (Olyphant) must team up with the retired lawman he replaced. The duo investigate the source of the deal in order to stop a mysterious cartel butcher and his systematic brutalization of the town's residents.
Camela Galano, president of Relativity International, will be shopping the film at Cannes.
William Green and Aaron Ginsburg of Atlas Independent will produce, while Atlas' Andy Horwitz will executive produce. Production will start at the end of August in Medellin, Columbia.
Atlas Independent is currently in post-production on Lopez-Gallego's movie "Open Grave," which stars Sharlto Copley ("District 9").
Olyphant is well-suited for the sheriff role, having played a lawman on FX's hit series "Justified." He was last seen on the bigscreen in the 2011 flop "I Am Number Four," and is best known to movie audiences for playing the villain in "Live Free or Die Hard."
He's represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
