Rights to NZ horror movie snapped up in Cannes

A distributor has snapped up the rights to release New Zealand horror movie The Ferryman in New Zealand and Australia.

The film is a New Zealand and British co-production set in the south Pacific about a group of twenty-somethings who charter a boat into the south Pacific "but stumble upon an evil that demands vengeance at any cost".

It was written by Stickmen's Nick Ward and the cast includes John Rhys Davies (Lord of the Rings), Kerry Fox (An Angel At My Table), Julian Arahanga (Once Were Warriors) and Lawrence Makoare (Lord of the Rings).

Magna Pacific announced the acquisition of the film today at the Cannes Film Festival.

Executive chairman Leon Coningham said the screenplay grabbed the company's interest and that was backed up with a particularly strong cast and production crew.

Co-producer Matthew Metcalfe said the film was scary and would satisfy the most hardcore of horror fans.

"The Ferryman is a return to the classic horrors of the late seventies and early eighties, such as The Shining, The Thing and The Fog," Metcalfe said.

The film was directed by Sione's Wedding director Chris Graham and had financial help from both the New Zealand and British film industries.

- NZPA