‘Closed Circuit’ Lead Star Eric Bana Acquires Distribution Rights In Australia; Paranoid Thriller Tackles Privacy Invasion

Eric Bana, lead star of 'Closed Circuit' has struck an agreement with Focus Features to be its Australian distributor.

"Closed Circuit" was directed by John Crowley and is a  paranoid thriller that stars Bana and Rebecca Hall as defense lawyers representing a terrorist charged with blowing up London's Borough Market. The former lovers realize a conspiracy is afoot and their lives are in danger. Jim Broadbent, Julia Stiles and Ciaran Hinds also star. They plan a December 5 theatrical release.

The movie had a mild gross of $5.7million amid mixed reactions in the US. Bana admits that it is quite a risky move, but he believes the film will find an audience in Australia.

The former Bruce Banner (in Ang Lee's version of the Hulk) talks about his business venture which he entered with Robert Connolly, who directed the Julian Assange picUnderground, and produced and was second unit director on the Bana-starrer Romulus, My Father : "We share an office and bounce idea off each other all the time, but this is the first time since Romulus we connected on something," Bana told me. "We thought there was no reason we couldn't look at distributing boutique releases in our backyard. Robert has navigated those waters before with his company Cinema Plus, and has been extremely involved in securing cinemas and has longstanding relationships with exhibitors here. I have logged many years on the publicity trail, and the relevant outlets know me and I know them. On paper, it's fresh waters, but in reality it isn't really. We can have a level of control, and to us it makes a helluva lot of sense and is something I wish I had done earlier. I have a great relationship with Focus, presented the offer in New York, and James and Andrew liked the idea."

The movie seemed timely because of the recent revelations by Edward Snowden about the NSA violating citizen's privacy.