Studio buys rights to inner-city hip-hop dance film
Robert Adetuyi
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has acquired all U.S. rights to the inner-city dance pic “Beat the World.”
Written and directed by Robert Adetuyi, the story revolves around young hip-hop crews from Canada, Germany, Japan, Brazil and the U.S. as they descend on Detroit for an international dance championship called Beat the World. Once they reach the final battle and face off, the contestants discover that there’s much more at stake than winning the competition.
The film, which blends hip-hop and parkour (also known as free running), features a global cast of hip-hop dancers and musical artists worldwide, including the Flying Steps and the Pink Ladies.
“I wanted to create a brand new kind of dance film,” said Adetuyi, who made his helming debut with the drama “Turn It Up” and whose writing credits include “Stomp the Yard.” “By blending Parkour and hip-hop, ‘Beat the World’ takes the genre to a whole new level and gives audiences something that they’ve never seen before.”
Film was shot primarily in Toronto and on location in Berlin, Germany and Brazil.
Inner City Films and Telefilm Canada financed “Beat the World,” with gap financing provided by Montreal-based FIDEC.
Amos Adetuyi is producing, and Benedict Carver is exec producing. Carver negotiated the deal with Sony’s Dan Primozic.
E1 Entertainment acquired Canadian, UK and Scandinavian rights.
Diamond Pictures is handling international sales.
Source: Variety
