BONE TOMAHAWK Producer’s New Company Will Combine Film, Television And Audio Books

Here's a cool thing: Dallas Sonnier, producer of BMD favorite Bone Tomahawk, Bad Milo, and the upcoming Brawl In Cell Block 99, has formed a new company with publisher Will Evans, Cinestate, which will focus on producing new films, books, and audio content (which they're calling "ear movies"). 

Says Sonnier:

“The entertainment industry has changed so much the past several years it’s almost the wild west again - there’s honestly never been a better place or time to create something totally groundbreaking. Our goal is to introduce more audiences to insanely talented creators like we did with Bone Tomahawk, because films like that are already in demand. We’re doing it our way and not concerned with any of the old ways of doing things - it’s a great place to be.”

On the film front, Cinestate is currently in negotiations with Kids' Larry Clarke to direct an as-yet-unnamed horror drama, and has also picked up a 2015 Black List script called Militia (now retitled The Abilene Incident), written and to be directed by Henry Dunham. 

Cinestate will also continue Sonnier's working relationship with S. Craig Zahler, who wrote and directed both Bone Tomahawk and Brawl In Cell Block 99. If you were a fan of the former, you'll be excited to learn that we have much Zahler to look forward to in the not-too-distant future. According to the press release we received:

Leading Cinestate’s roster of creators, award-winning director/writer S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk) is attached to multiple projects across the company’s three divisions. In addition to Brawl in Cell Block 99, he is also the author of the inventive Tim Burton-meets-Freaksnovel Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomalous Child, which will be among the first books published by Cinestate in Fall 2017. Other Zahler-penned novels include Mean Business on North Ganson Street, whose film rights were recently acquired by Warner Bros., and Wraiths of the Broken Land, which is being adapted for the big screen with Ridley Scott attached to direct. Zahler also wrote The Narrow Caves, which will be Cinestate’s first premium audio program.

That last project, The Narrow Caves, sounds very interesting, indeed: this will be the company's first "ear movie" (think: radio play), and will feature the vocal talents of Vincent D’Onofrio, Wyatt Russell, Will Patton and Lili Simmons. The Narrow Caves, and other, future Cinestate audio projects, will be made available via Audible.com.

Overall, it sounds as though Cinestate will exist to channel screenplays, manuscripts, and various other works into the formats which best suit them. Maybe they'll be audio-based, maybe they'll be films, maybe something remains a novel. With Sonnier working the film and television side of the coin and Evans working the publishing side, there's any number of options for the company to work with. And given the talent they're already attracting, we think that's pretty exciting.

Stay tuned for more on the happenings with Cinestate as announcements are made (you can read more about the company's plans here). In the meantime, we'll be rewatching Bone Tomahawk and preparing our bodies for the coming of Brawl In Cell Block 99.