Ketchup Lands U.S. Rights to ‘Savannah†(EXCLUSIVE)

Ketchup Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Annette Haywood-Carterâ€s historical drama “Savannah,” starring Jim Caviezel and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and set an Aug. 23 theatrical release followed by a VOD/DVD launch on Sept. 24.

Five-year-old Ketchup made the announcement on the opening day at Cannes., where Fabrication Films is representing worldwide rights.

“Savannah,” based on John Eugene Cay Jr.â€s book “Ward Allen: Savannah River Market Hunter,” is set in the 1900s and centered on Allen, who leaves behind a life of privilege in Savannah to live off the land with a freed slave.

Annette wrote the screenplay with her husband Ken Carter.

This is great news.

I’ve written about Savannah a number of times before, including a short review in a March 2012 City Talk column in the Savannah Morning News and some followup comments in a post here at Savannah Unplugged. Quoting myself:

Iâ€m not going to include spoilers here, but the film was darker in its themes than I expected. And thatâ€s a good thing. There are some deeply sad elements to Ward Allenâ€s story — and to the story of Christmas Moultrie, the last child born into slavery at Mulberry Grove Plantation and later Allenâ€s hunting friend and assistant. The multi-layered narrative doesnâ€t shy from those dark moments.

More recently, I’ve posted here about Savannah‘s screenings at film festivals in Charleston and Sedona.

Take a look at this trailer:

UPDATE: A new trailer will be available soon — I’ll update this post when it’s out.

Click here for the IMDB listing.