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Voltage Pictures has boarded international sales on Tim Sutton’s (Donnybrook, Dark Night, Memphis) upcoming thriller The Chain with Jamie Bell (Skin), Denise Gough (Colette, upcoming The Kid Who Would be King), Sebastian Stan (Marvel’s Avengers series, I, Tonya) and Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys, “The Leftovers”) in negotiations to star, it was announced today by company President and COO Jonathan Deckter.

Principal photography on the feature is set to commence April 2019. Producers are Rumble Films’ David Lancaster (Whiplash, Nightcrawler, Eye in the Sky) and Stephanie Wilcox (Small Crimes, Donnybrook). Deckter negotiated the deal with Jon Shiffman COO/CFO of Rumble Films on behalf of the producers. UTA will rep North American rights.

The Chain, which Sutton adapted from Tobias Wolff’s award-winning short story of the same name, follows the story of a man’s daughter who is viciously attacked by a dog, setting off a chain of events that ends in unspeakable tragedy.

This is the second feature length adaption of Wolff’s literary work; his memoir, “This Boy’s Life” was adapted into the hit feature film of the same name starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Barkin.

“The incomparable Tobias Wolff is one of my favorite authors and we’re even bigger fans of Jamie Bell since working with him on the powerful feature Skin,” said Deckter. “We’re thrilled to partner with our friends at Rumble Films to bring Tim Sutton’s adaptation to audiences around the world.  It ticks all the boxes for a strong, international commercial contender so we could not be happier to be representing The Chain,” Deckter continued.

The Chain is the latest film to be added to Voltage’s production and sales slate for Berlin.  The company recently announced its new production Blackwing from writer David Loughery and its worldwide representation of the social media thriller Follow Me.

Writer-director Tim Sutton previously collaborated with Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley on the Rumble Films production Donnybrook which opened the Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform Section, won the 2018 Fantastic Fest Main Competition and will be released by IFC Films in 2019. Other credits include Pavilion, Memphis and Dark Night which won the Laterna Magica Prize at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.

British actor Jamie Bell first rose to prominence for his debut role in Billy Elliot, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Other film roles include the films King Kong, Jumper, The Adventures of Tintin, Snowpiercer, and Fantastic Four. Bell’s most recently played Bryon Widner in Guy Nattiv’s skinhead redemption drama Skin, which won the FIPRESCI prize at the Toronto International Film Festival 2018 and is set to unspool in the Panorama section at the upcoming 2019 Berlin Film Festival.

Two-time Olivier Award-winning actress Denise Gough’s film credits include Bleecker Street Media’s Colette opposite Keira Knightley and Dominic West and Lionsgate’s Juliet, Naked opposite Rose Byrne and Chris O’Dowd. Gough was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play at the 2018 Tony Awards for her role in “Angels in America”. She recently wrapped Monday and can next be seen in 20th Century Fox’s The Kid Who Would Be King, which is currently in release

Sebastian Stan gained wide recognition for his role as “Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers series franchise. In 2015, he co-starred in Jonathan Demme's comedy-drama Ricki and the Flash opposite Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline and in Ridley Scott's sci-fi film The Martian opposite Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. Stan co-starred with Margot Robbie and Alison Janney in the Academy Award nominated feature I, Tonya. Most recently, Stan starred opposite Nicole Kidman in Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer.

American actress Margaret Qualley is best known for her role as Jill Garvey on the HBO series “The Leftovers”. Qualley’s film credits include Shane Black’s The Nice Guys opposite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crow, Maggie Bett’s Novitiate and Donnybrook. Qualley will next star in the highly anticipated FX series, Fosse/Verdon opposite Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams, premiering in the spring.

Bell is repped by UTA and Artists Independent Management. Gough is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group. Stan is repped by ICM Partners and Brookside Artist Management. Margaret Qualley is repped by UTA and Management 360.