Mike Fleming

LOS ANGELES, CA, MARCH 15, 2012 – Hugh Jackman will topline and Denis Villeneuve (Academy Award-nominated “Incendies”) will direct the gripping thriller PRISONERS for Alcon Entertainment, it was announced by Alcon Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.

Written by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”), story revolves around a small-town carpenter named Keller (Jackman) whose young daughter and best friend are kidnapped. After the cops fail to find them, Keller takes the law into his own hands, but in the process runs up against the big city detective assigned to the case.

Kosove and Johnson are producing, along with 8:38 Productions’ Kira Davis and Madhouse Entertainment’s Adam Kolbrenner. Ed McDonnell and John Stark will executive produce.

Production is scheduled to begin in early 2013 once Jackman completes the next “Wolverine: X-Men” for Fox. Alcon is targeting a November 2013 release through their output deal with Warner Bros.

States Johnson and Kosove: “We are ecstatic that Hugh will take the lead in this exciting thriller. We can think of no better ‘Keller’ — an everyman who rises to an occasion most of us could not imagine possible. Denis’s rare directing gifts are superbly matched to this material, that is both challenging and explores complex themes in a commercially appealing narrative.”

Jackman will next be seen playing Jean Valjean in Universal Pictures’ “Les Misérables,” currently shooting in the UK for release in December. He will next go into production on Marvel Entertainment’s “The Wolverine” for Fox.

Jackman is repped by Patrick Whitesell at WME.

Guzikowski is repped by Verve; Villeneuve is repped by CAA.

Scott Edel of Loeb and Loeb and Alcon’s in-house counsel David Fierson negotiated on behalf of Alcon and Jeff Frankel of the firm McKuin and Frankel and David Fox of the firm Myman, Abell, Fineman, Fox, Greenspan & Light negotiated on behalf of Guzikowski and Madhouse. Jason Sloan negotiated on behalf of Jackman.