Highland Film Group has locked key international deals in all media for crime thriller The Deputy starring Duke Nicholson, William H. Macy, Tiffany Haddish, Stephen Dorff, and Julia Fox as it continues sales in Cannes.

Director Matt Sukkar is preparing to go into production in Mississippi this week on his feature directorial debut about part-time Deputy Toby Sawyer (Nicholson) who is tasked by his boss with (Macy) with guarding a corpse until the coroner arrives. When the body goes missing, he unwittingly uncovers decades of wrongdoing and risks his life to unravel the town’s deep web of corruption.

Billie Lourd, Devon Ross, and Colleen Camp have joined the cast, with production starting this week in Mississippi. Narcos and Griselda co-creator Carlo Bernard adapted the screenplay from Victor Gischler’s novel of the same name.

Highland Film Group is co-financing and represents worldwide rights and has licensed rights to Splendid Film for Germany, Blue Swan Entertainment for Italy, VVS Films for Canada, Rialto Distribution for Australia and New Zealand, and Mis.Label for Scandinavia.

Deals have also closed with Premiere TV for Benelux, Galapagos Films for Poland, Cinemundo for Portugal, Feelgood Entertainment for Greece, Stars Media for former Yugoslavia, Cinetel for Hungary, The Plot Pictures for the Middle East, and Cinesky for airlines rights.

Andrew Stevens is producing through his Andrew Stevens Entertainment alongside Hicham Benkirane through his HBK F.C., which developed and packaged the project with Sukkar, who also produces.

Executive producers include Gischler, Bernard, Brendan Thomas, Haddish, Dorff, John Burnham, Daisy Burnham. Mark Canton, Ryan Winterstern, Highland Film Group, and BondIt Media Capital.

Highland’s Cannes sales slate are Justin Chadwick’s action spy-thriller The Mark starring Jessica Alba; Martin Campbell’s action-thriller Dedication with Daisy Ridley; Adrian Grunberg’s action-thriller Protector starring Milla Jovovich; and the action crime thriller Wardriver with Dane DeHaan and Sasha Calle.

By Jeremy Kay, Screen