Andrew McCarthy Sci-Fi Pic ‘Orion’ Acquired By Hyde Park International

EXCLUSIVE: Hyde Park International has picked up foreign sales rights to Jaco Bouwer’s sci-fi thriller Orion starring Andrew McCarthy, Debby Ryan and Drew Van Acker. Orion is set for a nationwide U.S. release through Blue Harbor this fall. In the pic, McCarthy plays Jim, a NASA interrogator who is pitted against Apollo (Van Acker), an amnesiac astronaut whose recent space mission has ended catastrophically. But not everything is as it first seems in the charged battle of wits that ensues as Jim attempts to reconstruct Apollo’s fractured memories of the mission in order to determine what — or who — slaughtered the crew before their craft crash-landed back on Earth. Hyde Park International Orion is produced by Sunil Perkash (Enchanted, Salt), Van Acker (Last Survivors), Elle Army and Scott Army. The screenplay is by Anne Vithayathil. Watch on Deadline Orion arrives on the international sales market after premieres at such genre festivals as FilmQuest, where it won awards for Best Actor (Van Acker) and Best Visual Effects and the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival. Bouwer’s debut feature Gaia premiered at SXSW 2021, and won the ZEISS Cinematography Award. “Orion is an excellent new entry into the canon of great first-contact sci-fi movies,” Hyde Park International’s Carl Clifton sad. “It’s smart, twisty and totally compelling.” Added the producers: “On behalf of the entire Orion team, we are thrilled Hyde Park responded so enthusiastically to Orion and could not be more excited for audiences all over the world to discover Jaco Bouwer’s vision and world-building along with terrific performances from Andrew, Debby and Drew.” McCarthy’s credits includes such 1980 classics Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire and Weekend at Bernie’s. He recently directed and produced the Hulu feature documentary Brats in which he interviews the famed Brat Pack that included the likes of Demi Moore and Rob Lowe. He will next be seen in Season 3 of Netflix hit series Wednesday. Van Acker previously starred alongside Alicia Silverstone and Stephen Moyer in the independent crime thriller Last Survivors and also starred opposite Addison Timlin and James D’Arcy in Lionsgate’s futuristic sci-fi thriller Life Like. On TV he is known for his prominent roles in Pretty Little Liars and DC’s Titans. Ryan will next be seen opposite Zac Efron in the A24 thriller Famous. Recent credits include the Sundance titles Shortcomings and Horse Girl, as well as Jeff Baena’s Spin Me Round and The Sun Never Sets, which premiered at this year’s SXSW and will be released by IFC Films. On the small screen, she starred in the Disney Channel series Jessie and the Netflix original series Insatiable. Orion‘s ensemble also includes singer-songwriter Karin Ann (The Tattooist of Auschwitz) and Natalia Lesz (Krime Story). Karin Ann’s 2024 debut album Through the Telescope drew critical praise, and she recently released the single “i was never yours,” co-written with Harrison Whitford, Chelsea Balan and Suki Waterhouse, the first of several new releases this year. Karin Ann also wrote and recorded four original songs for Orion’s soundtrack.