Gaghan
Indie production/distribution company MDP Worldwide has acquired the screenplay "Havoc" by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan ("Traffic").
In the vein of "Traffic," "Havoc" is a multilayered drama about a gang of wealthy L.A. teens confronted with the real-life gangster lifestyle they have long tried to emulate when they encounter a drug-dealing Latino gang.
Gaghan penned the script based on the screenplay by then-high school student Jessica Kaplan.
Pic will be produced by John Morrissey and Jack F. Murphy, with MDP Worldwide chairman-CEO Mark Damon serving as executive producer. Lars Bjorck will co-produce.
MDP is seeking a director for "Havoc." "I'm enormously excited about the possibilities in Stephen Gaghan's script, which addresses the passions and confusions of today's youth," Damon said. "I'm glad to be working again with John Morrissey and with Jack Murphy as producers. I know they'll deliver a powerful and commercial film."
MDP also acquired international rights to drama "The United States of Leland," to be directed by Matthew Ryan Hoge and produced by Kevin Spacey and Bernie Morris for Trigger Street Prods. That pic, which starts production Monday in Los Angeles, stars Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle, Chris Klein, Michelle Williams, Jena Malone and Spacey.
MDP most recently distributed "The Musketeer," directed by Peter Hyams, which was released Stateside by Universal Pictures.
MDP also is handling worldwide distribution for the extreme sports action film "The Extremists," which will be released later this year by Paramount Pictures in the U.S., and cyber-horror thriller "Fear.com," to be released in the U.S. by Warner Bros.
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