‘The System’ Sets Starz Premiere Date; ‘Freedom’s Path’ Heading Back To Theaters Via The Forge; Freestyle Acquires ‘Take The Ice’; Lion Heart Lands ‘As Certain As Death’ – Film Briefs

EXCLUSIVE: After hitting 300 North American theaters via The Avenue last fall, the action thriller The System, starring Tyrese Gibson, Terrence Howard, Jeremy Piven and Lil Yachty, has been set to premiere on Starz on July 1st. The film will have its linear premiere there at 12:00 p.m. ET on July 6th, also airing that night at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Currently being developed into a series by Bryan Lord (Willy’s Wonderland, Blackbird) and his SkullCrusher Films, as well as Gibson and writer-director Dallas Jackson, The System centers on a former marine (Gibson) who is recruited by authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison following a drug bust. After discovering an underground fight ring in the facility, he must fight to stay alive, and to take down the corrupt system. 

Lord and Gibson produced the film, with Martin J. Barab, Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor and Grady Craig exec producing alongside Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier, JJ Caruth and Caleb Ward. 

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EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired worldwide rights the sports doc Take the Ice, telling the story of world-class female hockey players and their fight for equality in their sport, slating it for release on VOD on July 25.

Directed by Rachel Koteen, Take the Ice spotlights the life of Dani Rylan, who by 10 years of age was obsessed with hockey and dreamed of growing up to play in the NHL. As one of the best players on the Florida state junior team, Rylan saw no reason not to have the same ambitions as everyone else. But as the only girl on the team, the reality of being denied entry into an all-male sports league set in. 17 years later, the doc goes behind the scenes as Rylan decides to change the history of the sport by founding the first professional women’s hockey league.

Among the other hockey players profiled in the film are Denna Laing, Molly Engstrom and Anya Packer, to name a few. Koteen was joined in producing it by Batya Feldman and Judah-Lev Dickstein. Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire Take the Ice, whose trailer you can view below, directly with Koteen. 

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EXCLUSIVE: Lion Heart Distribution has picked up North American rights to the horror film As Certain as Death, reuniting former child stars from Disney’s Zeke and Luther and Den Brother, as well as the Nickelodeon show Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. The film marking the directorial debut of Hutch Dano, who also stars, will bow on VOD platforms on July 11th.

Shot on location in Big Bear during the 2020 Covid lockdown, the film tells the story of Kayla (Cortney Palm), who finds herself at the end of her rope with her addict boyfriend, Richard (Dano), staging an intervention with the help of her sister Dayna (Lindsey Shaw) and Richard’s friends, Jameson (Daniel Curtis Lee) and David (David Lambert). The group whisks Richard away to the mountains in hopes of assisting his detox with no other people around, and no cell service available. But when emotions begin to run high, secrets are revealed and a run-in with a stranger turns into a fight for survival.

Guy Wilson also stars in the pic, produced by Brienne Austen and Rock & Royal Productions.

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EXCLUSIVE: After hitting 200+ AMC and Regal theaters nationwide via Allen Media Group in February, the award-winning Civil War drama Freedom’s Path has been set to make its way back to cinemas, bowing at select North American locations via The Forge on July 28th with a release on VOD and digital to follow on August 4th.

Written and directed by Brett Smith, Freedom’s Path watches as a Union soldier (Gerran Howell) fleeing from battle is rescued unexpectedly by a free Black man (RJ Cyler) operating a section of the Underground Railway. When a ruthless and desperate slave catcher (Ewen Bremner) discovers the secret network, he conspires to bring it burning to the ground.

Also starring Afemo Omilami (Forrest Gump), Steven Swadling (Kickboxer), Thomas Jefferson Byrd (Set It Off) and Harrison Gilbertson (Oppenheimer), the film is produced by Smith, AJ Winslow, James Pidgeon, Swadling and Neko Sparks. Dexter Braff, Cyler, Jory Weitz, Skip Williamson, BK Fulton, Kerri Elder and Blake Elder exec produced, with Dwayne Clark, Kelly Waller, Manish Majithia and Matthew Goldman serving as co-EPs. The production companies involved were 1812 Films, Rocket Soul Studios, Room in the Sky Films, Rock Hill Studios and Soulidifly Productions. In addition to serving as a North American distributor for Freedom’s Path, The Forge is handling the film’s sales worldwide.

The deal was brokered by Mark Sayre on behalf of The Forge, and producers Smith, Swadling, Winslow and Pidgeon on behalf of Freedom’s Path Feature Film, LLC.