BFI London Film Festival: Brie Larson thriller Free Fire to close event

By

Published on August 1, 2016 05:18PM EDT

The 2016 BFI London Film Festival has officially announced its closing night film: Ben Wheatley’s Brie Larson-starring thriller Free Fire.

Screening as part of the festival’s 60th annual event, the Oct. 16 gala at the Odeon Leicester Square marks Free Fire‘s European premiere. While exact release dates have yet to be announced for the film, this means the project will likely screen at one or more of the major North American film festivals (Telluride, Toronto, New York) this fall.

Free Fire, revolving around a woman’s fight for survival after an arms deal she brokers between two Irishmen and a gang turns deadly, features an ensemble cast that, in addition to reigning Best Actress Oscar-winner Larson, includes Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Jack Reynor (Sing Street), Sam Riley (Control), Babou Ceesay (Eye in the Sky), and Noah Taylor (Submarine).

Martin Scorsese executive-produced the project alongside Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Reno Antoniades, David Kosse & Sam Lavender, Ben Roberts & Lizzie Francke, and Danny Perkins & Dan MacRae. Wheatley directed from a script he wrote with Amy Jump.

“I’m very proud to be showing Free Fire at the BFI London Film Festival,” Wheatley said in a statement. “To be the closing film is a great honour. LFF have been fantastic in supporting the films I’ve made (me and an army of 100s) and I can’t wait to show Free Fire to the Festival audience!”

Including Free Fire, three of Wheatley’s films have been presented at the BFI London Film Festival. Most recently, his High-Rise screened last year as a Festival Gala, while Sightseers screened as a Laugh Gala in 2012.

While Free Fire‘s domestic release date has yet to be announced by A24, which acquired the film in March in the midst of original distributor Alchemy’s liquidity criss, StudioCanal will release the film in the U.K. some time in 2017.

The 60th BFI London Film Festival runs from Oct. 5-16. Tickets for BFI members go on sale Sept. 8, while public booking begins Sept. 15.