RLJE Films Acquire Bella Thorne Thriller RIDE

RLJE Films and UMC (Urban Movie Channel), brands of RLJ Entertainment (NASDAQ: RLJE), have acquired all North American rights to the upcoming Unified Pictures thriller Ride. The film stars Bella Thorne ("Famous in Love," "Shake It Up"), Jessie T. Usher (Shaft, "Survivor's Remorse") and Will Brill ("The OA"). RIDE marks the feature film debut of writer-director Jeremy Ungar. RLJE plans to release the film nationally in theaters, VOD and Digital HD this Fall.

"With its talented young cast and thrilling plotline, we know audiences are going to be drawn to Ride," said Chief Acquisitions Officer Mark Ward for RLJE Films. "The story is incredibly relevant to today's culture."

"In Ride, Jeremy created a quintessential millennial thriller wrought with tension and fueled by our darkest fears related to the cultural phenomenon of ride-sharing," said Producer Keith Kjarval. "We could not be any more pleased to join forces with RLJE, who continue to have their fingers on the pulse of genre fans everywhere."

In Ride, when James (Usher), a rideshare driver, and his passenger, Jessica (Thorne), pick up the charismatic but manipulative Bruno (Brill), a night out in L.A. becomes a psychological war for survival.

Ride was produced by Unified's Kjarval (The Layover, Rudderless), Tyler Jackson (What They Had) and Sefton Fincham (Drone), and was financed by the Fyzz Facility along with Unified Film Fund II. Robert Jones (The Usual Suspects) and Wayne Marc Godfrey (The Foreigner) executive produced, along with David Grace (Dope), Mike Rowe (Drone) and Levi Sheck (Dragged Across Concrete) and Dean Buchanan (Drone).

Ward and Jess De Leo from RLJE negotiated the deal with Endeavor Content on behalf of the filmmakers.

RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) is a premium digital channel company serving distinct audiences primarily through its popular OTT branded channels, Acorn TV (British TV) and UMC (Urban Movie Channel), which have rapidly grown through development, acquisition, and distribution of its exclusive rights to a large library of international and British dramas, independent feature films and urban content. RLJE's titles are also distributed in multiple formats including broadcast and pay television, theatrical and non-theatrical, DVD, Blu-ray, and a variety of digital distribution models (including EST, VOD, SVOD and AVOD) in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Additionally, through Acorn Media Enterprises, its UK development arm, RLJE co-produces and develops new programs and owns 64% of Agatha Christie Limited.

Photo Credit: RD / Orchon / Retna Digital

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