Vertical Picks Up Jacob Elordi-Zachary Quinto Serial Killer Thriller ‘He Went That Way’:

Vertical has acquired domestic distribution rights to “He Went That Way.”

Directed by Jeffrey Darling, the film tells the true story of a celebrity animal handler (Zachary Quinto, Spock in the Bad Robot-produced “Star Trek” films) who picked up a young hitchhiker who turned out to be a serial murderer. Jacob Elordi plays the diabolical deviant. He broke out in Netflix’s “The Kissing Booth” trilogy and has starred in the likes of “Saltburn” and “Priscilla.”

Patrick J. Adams of “Suits” fame stars. That decade-old USA legal comedy inexplicably became a streaming sensation on Netflix this past summer.

Penned by Evan M. Weiner, “He Went That Way” had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. Vertical plans to release the film in theaters in early 2024. It is inspired by Conrad Hillberry’s book, “Luke Karamazov” and the real-life account of Dave Pitts’ encounter with Larry Lee Ranes. Pitts was the sole survivor in Ranes’ killing spree.

Marc Benardout, Hugh Broder, Jeremy L Kotin, James Harris and Mark Lane of Teashop Productions produced the picture. Along with Quinto and Elordi, executive producers include Phil Hunt of Head Gear Films and Bohemia Media, Medha Jaishankar, Compton Ross, Ananyaa Shah, Lisa Broder, Richard Broder and Lawrence August.

The producing team stated: “We were so thrilled by the audience response at Tribeca and delighted that Vertical will be bringing this story to theaters. It’s been an eighteen-year journey to bring this story to life and now stands as a legacy to our director, the late Jeffrey Darling, who passed away during post-production. Jacob and Zachary brought such an intensity and smart approach to the characters in a story steeped in instinct, infatuation, and incident.”

Vertical Entertainment partner Peter Jarowey and SVP of acquisitions Tony Piantedosi negotiated the deal on behalf of Vertical. Mister Smith’s CEO David Garrett and VP International Sales & Distribution Shane Kelly negotiated the deal on behalf of the production.

Jarowey commented: “We were enthralled by Jacob and Zachary’s gritty chemistry when we watched the film at Tribeca and knew immediately this would be a story audiences would find captivating. We look forward to working with Mister Smith on another collaboration, as we did on ‘The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry’ and ‘The Hating Game’ and building upon the success of ‘He Went That Way’ together.”

View this article at The Wrap.