By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Perhaps the highest-profile genre film produced during lockdown is now set to debut for home viewing.
STX Films’ SONGBIRD, on which Michael Bay (A QUIET PLACE) was a producer and Adam Mason (INTO THE DARK, BLOOD RIVER, THE DEVIL’S CHAIR) was the director, will premiere in the U.S. as a premium VOD release on all transactional platforms December 11; it’ll be available for 48-hour rental for $19.99. Later on, it will premiere on a major streaming service in 2021. The first feature shot in Los Angeles entirely during the pandemic, SONGBIRD was scripted by Mason and Simon Boyes and stars KJ Apa, Sofia Carson, Craig Robinson, Bradley Whitford, Peter Stormare, Alexandra Daddario, Paul Walter Hauser and Demi Moore. The synopsis: “The COVID-23 virus has mutated and the world is in its fourth year of lockdown. Infected Americans are ripped from their homes and forced into quarantine camps known as Q-Zones, from which there is no escape, as a few brave souls fight back against the forces of oppression. Amid this dystopian landscape, a fearless courier, Nico [Apa], who’s immune to the deadly pathogen, finds hope and love with Sara [Carson], though her lockdown prohibits them from physical contact. When Sara is believed to have become infected, Nico races desperately across the barren streets of Los Angeles in search of the only thing that can save her from imprisonment…or worse.
“Whitford and Moore play a wealthy couple who may hold the key to Nico’s mission; Daddario is a singer enmeshed in a messy and forbidden affair; Hauser is a disabled veteran whose best friend–a drone named Max–is his eyes and ears to a world that has left him behind; Robinson is Nico’s boss; and Stormare is the corrupt head of the city’s ‘sanitation’ department, which seizes those infected and transports them to the Q-Zone.”
“The pandemic has affected every aspect of our business, from production to release,” says STX chairman Adam Fogelson, “but SONGBIRD demonstrates that a nimble studio like STX can find effective and profitable ways to make their movies work, as we have similarly with GREENLAND and MY SPY during these challenging times. The show must go on. SONGBIRD is a thrilling movie that will speak to audiences in this moment as it keeps them on the edge of their seats.”
