EXCLUSIVE: Theo Rossi (Emily the Criminal, Army of the Dead) has set Diamondback as his feature directorial debut, and will also star in the thriller based on true events.
In the film set in 1963, which is currently in pre-production, a young veteran Marine with nothing to lose decides to rob a trio of banks with his two best friends and fellow marines, but a tenacious cop makes catching them his personal mission, setting up a collision-course, cat-and-mouse game.
Michael Southworth penned the script. Rossi and Nicholas Carmona’s production company DosDudes Pictures is partnering on the project with Jason Armstrong and Rob Goodrich’s Walk Like a Duck Entertainment.
“When I started as a background player in this business many years ago I had a very clear picture of the things I hoped to accomplish in it. Directing has always been the aspiration in the journey to becoming the most well rounded artist I can be,” Rossi said. “This story and this role felt like the perfect time to take that leap. So humbled and honored to have the opportunity.”
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Rossi is best known for his turns as the menacing Hernan ‘Shades’ Alvarez in Marvel’s Luke Cage, as hacker and intelligence officer Juan Carlos ‘Juice’ Ortiz in FX’s Sons of Anarchy, and as infection evaluation officer Burt Cummings in Zack Snyder’s zombie heist pic Army of the Dead. He most recently starred alongside Aubrey Plaza in the thriller Emily the Criminal, which was quickly snapped up by Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment in a bidding war following its debut at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Rossi also recently starred opposite Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes in Netflix’s limited series True Story, which trended #1 worldwide on the platform. Additional credits include Cloverfield and the film American Skin, which was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award.
Rossi is represented by Paradigm, Management 360 and Schreck Rose Dapello; Southworth by Michael Zanuck Agency, Burn Entertainment and Nelson Davis.
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