Kjarval has written a new crime thriller set in Athens, which he is producing through his Unified Pictures banner. The story centers on two estranged brothers who descend into the city's criminal underworld while searching for a missing young woman, only to find themselves caught between two powerful families and a violent past that once tore them apart.
The project arrives as Kjarval's current collaboration with filmmaker Harlin, The Beast, is set to open in U.S. theaters on Friday. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson as a U.S. President who must unlock the offensive capabilities of his armored presidential car in order to save an injured Secret Service agent, played by Joel Kinnaman, and ultimately the world. Aura Entertainment acquired U.S. rights to the film at this year's Cannes Film Festival ahead of the release.
Harlin, a Finnish filmmaker, has recent credits including the shark thriller Deep Water, starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley, and Lionsgate's horror trilogy The Strangers. He is also known for The Bricklayer and Cliffhanger, and is repped by M3 Global Strategy.
Kjarval, meanwhile, is currently in post-production on The Swimming Lesson, which features Heidi Gardner and William H. Macy, while also prepping The Smack, with David M. Rosenthal attached to direct. He is known for previous work on Dragged Across Concrete, What They Had and Rudderless, and is repped by attorney Elsa Ramo.
Photo: Ann Larie Valentine from San Francisco, CA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
