Sky announces co-production of forthcoming original film Twist

Sky announced a new co-production called Twist, a new original film starring two-time Academy Award winner, Sir Michael Caine (The Dark Knight trilogy), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), actress and singer Rita Ora, David Walliams (Little Britain), Franz Drameh (Legends of Tomorrow), Sophie Simnett (Daybreak) and newcomer Raff Law in the title role. Twist will be available on Sky Cinema on the same day as its theatrical release.

Twist is a modern interpretation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in which Oliver is reinvented as a streetwise artist living on the streets of modern-day London. A chance encounter with a gang of grifters led by the charismatic Dodge (Ora) sees Twist (Law) caught up in a high stakes heist to steal a priceless painting for master thief, Fagin (Caine), and his psychopathic business partner, Sikes (Headey). Drameh will play Batesey, Simnett will play Red and Walliams will play Losberne.

Sir Michael Caine said: “Fagin is such an infamous character, it’s going to be great fun playing him. I’m really looking forward to working with Lena, Raff and the rest of the cast in London when we start shooting.”

Lena Headey commented: “I couldn’t be more excited to take on the iconic character of Sikes from Oliver Twist. Flipping roles without apology or character softening is a brilliant way to breathe new life into established materials and bring it to new audiences.”

Raff Law added: I’m excited to play such a well-loved literary character, and I’m looking forward to working with Martin Owen to bring to life his new take on the character in modern-day London.”

Sarah Wright, Director of Sky Cinema and Acquisitions at Sky UK & Ireland, commented: “Twist is Dickens’ classic tale as you’ve never seen it before. Daring, modern and packed full of the greatest British talent, this co-production demonstrates Sky’s ambition for original films. I can’t wait for our customers to see it. “

Twist is Directed by Martin Owen (Killers Anonymous, The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud) and produced by Unstoppable Film and TV, Posterity Pictures and Puregrass Films. Twist is written by John Wrathall (The Liability) with additional writing by Sally Collett and Martin Owen (The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud). Producers are Matt Williams, Ben Grass, Jason Maza and Noel Clarke. Financiers include Magna Entertainment Capital, Blue Rider and Lipsync Productions. International sales are with Arclight Films. The film goes into production in London this autumn.

Notes to Editors

About Sky

With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 31,000 employees help connect our customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gomorrah we launched Sky Studios and now plan to more than double our investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years.

Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, it is our responsibility to do it safely – that’s why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. Our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, we’re on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re a proud employer – recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.

About Posterity Pictures

Founded by Entrepreneur Jonathan Willis, Producer Matt Williams and
Brit hotshot writer/Director Martin Owen, Posterity is one of the UK’s most prolific independent film production companies, producing over a dozen movies in 3 years including BAFTA award winning The Machine, Killers Anonymous starring Gary Oldman and Jessica Alba, together with award- winning West End theatrical productions such as The Railway Children as well as Guys and Dolls.

About Pure Grass Films

Pure Grass are developing a range of high end television and film properties, and have previously produced award winning digital entertainment series including “Beyond the Rave”, starring Jamie Dornan (50 Shades of Grey), and “Kirill”, which won a Webby for Best Original Drama series.

CEO Ben Grass, previously headed Sony Pictures Digital Division in Europe and prior to that was Senior Advisor, Corporate Strategy at the BBC. Ben studied Modern History at Oxford and did an MBA at INSEAD in France. Pure Grass is partly owned by Christophe Charlier, former Chairman of the Brooklyn Nets NBA Basketball team, and advisors include Damian Lewis (Homeland; Billions).

About Unstoppable Film and TV

Unstoppable Film and Television is an exciting and ambitious production company based in London, UK. It’s a company that continues to push the boundaries of independent film and TV, but more importantly, advance those projects into an international market. Over the past few years, Unstoppable have shown themselves to be at the forefront of films that are new and fresh, working with exciting young talent. Unstoppable will continue to produce projects that give young filmmakers from diverse and ethnic backgrounds the platform and opportunity to tell their stories. Originally Unstoppable Entertainment, they have produced over 10 feature films, the most recent being UK box office success and TIFF’s “Brotherhood”, “10x10” starring Luke Evans and Kelly Reilly, and LFF’s “The Fight”, directed by BAFTA winner Jessica Hynes. Unstoppable recently joined the All3Media group, forming Unstoppable Film & Television, which has opened their slate to more scripted TV projects that they continue to develop. 2020 will see the release of ‘Bulletproof’ Season 2 for Sky One, as well as four-part drama ‘The Drowning’ for C5.