Kinky Romance ‘Pillion’ Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling Lands at A24 for U.S.

A24 has picked up U.S. distribution rights to Pillion , the debut feature of British director Harry Lighton ( Wren Boys ) from Poor Things producers Element Pictures starring Harry Melling ( The Pale Blue Eye ) and Alexander Skarsgård ( The Northman , Succession ).

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Described as a “funny, filthy romance,” Pillion sees Skarsgård play Ray, an ” impossibly handsome leader of a bike gang” who takes on Colin (Melling), a weedy wallflower, to be his new submissive. Ray uproots Colin from his dreary suburban life and introduces him to a community of kinky, queer bikers. But as Colin dives deeper into Ray’s world, he begins to question whether the life of a 24/7 submissive is really for him.

Lighton, BAFTA-nominated for his 2017 short Wren Boys , directed Pillion from his own script which is loosely inspired by Adam Mars-Jones’ 2019 novel Box Hill . The film wrapped production this summer.

Element Pictures, a Fremantle company, produced Pillion with financing from BBC Film and the BFI in association with Fremantle, Picturehouse Entertainment, who will release the film in the U.K., and September Film, who will handle distribution in the Benelux region.

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Pillion was a hot project at the Cannes market this year, where Cornerstone, who are handling worldwide sales, introduced it to buyers.

Melling, most recently seen alongside Caleb Landry Jones in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Venice competition entry Harvest , will appear alongside Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light , the sequel to the Emmy-nominated 2015 limited series.

Skarsgård, who had supporting roles in Kate Winslet-starrer Lee and alongside Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in Amazon Prime’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith series, will next be seen in sci-fi series Murderbot for Apple TV+.

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