Vertical is getting ahead of the crowds as this year’s Cannes market starts wheeling and dealing for Hollywood’s hottest projects and properties. The studio acquired the U.S. rights from AGC Studios to The Order, with Justin Kurzel (Macbeth, The History of the Kelly Gangi, Assassin’s Creed) in the director’s chair. Based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s novel The Silent Brotherhood, The Order stars Jude Law (Closer, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), Nicholas Hoult (Superman, Renfield, Mad Max: Fury Road), and Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One, X-Men: Apocalypse, Mud).
Here’s a synopsis of Flynn and Gerhardt’s novel courtesy of Library Journal:
Two courageous investigative journalists have created an insider’s account of the “silent brotherhood,” the anti-Jewish, white supremacist underground that, with the justification of some perversely interpreted Christian teachings, conducts an all-out race war. The movement has gathered a group of superpatriots, zealots, malcontents, as well as, rather disturbingly, a large majority of ordinary people. These followers see the underground’s survivalist creed as the way whites can protect their race from “Jewish monied elites” and nonwhites “living off of welfare.”
Kurzel’s film looks at the silent brotherhood’s dealings, including violent bank robberies, counterfeiting operations, and armored car heists that frightened communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. Deadline‘s exclusive report says Law plays “a lone FBI agent stationed in the sleepy, picturesque town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, who believes the crimes were not the work of traditional criminals. He thinks the disturbance is the work of domestic terrorists with a charismatic leader (Hoult). Alison Oliver, Odessa Young, Sebastian Pigott, George Tchortov, Victor Slezak, and Marc Maron also star as primary cast members.
“I am looking forward to working with Vertical on the release of The Order,” Kurzel told Deadline. “It was a privilege getting to work with such an extraordinary cast and crew on such a thrilling script by Zach Baylin, a story from the past speaking so directly with the present.”
What do you think about Nicholas Hoult playing the leader of a white domestic terrorism cell? Will The Order open eyes to the horrors of white supremacy or embolden sleeper agents yet to be activated? Let’s hope it’s the first thing.
