Peter Dinklage to Star In the Thriller THE THICKET for Gianni Nunnari's Hollywood Gang

GIANNI NUNNARI’S HOLLYWOOD GANG

DEVELOPING 

JOE LANSDALE’S ACCLAIMED SUSPENSE THRILLER

THE THICKET FOR PETER DINKLAGE

(Burbank, CA) September 22, 2014 — Gianni Nunnari’s Hollywood Gang announced today the development of Joe Lansdale’s acclaimed crime thriller THE THICKET, starring Peter Dinklage. 

The film will be produced by Nunnari, along with Dinklage and his long time manager David Ginsberg, who will be producing through their newly formed production company. Shannon Gaulding, who works with Nunnari, will also serve as producer on the project.

THE THICKET has been hailed as one of the best American crime novels to emerge in recent years.  Set in tough, turbulent and feral East Texas in the early 20th century, this dark thriller follows the story of Jack, an innocent young man, who goes on an epic quest to rescue his sister after she has been kidnapped by a violent killer, Cut Throat Bill, and his gang. Jack enlists the help of a crafty bounty hunter named Shorty (Dinklage), a grave-digging alcoholic son of an ex-slave, and a street-smart prostitute. Together they track the girl into the deadly no-man's land known as The Big Thicket - a place where blood and chaos reign.

“That Joe Lansdale's dark vision will be brought to life by the brilliantly talented Peter Dinklage starring as Shorty - it is a dream of mine,” said Nunnari. “This is the kind of original movie with edge and style that Hollywood Gang is hungry for; luckily we found all these things in THE THICKET.  We cannot wait to share this movie with audiences around the world.”

The New York Times Book Review called THE THICKET "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm--or Mark Twain”. It was named by the Library Journal as one of the Best Historical Fiction Novels of 2013.  

"Completely original,” said Dinklage. “The characters and the world they inhabit jumped from the pages for me in such a cinematic way."

Lansdale, winner of nine Bram Stoker Awards and two NY Times Notable Book Awards, is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame and is Writer-in-Residence at Stephen F. Austin University.  Critics have lauded Joe Lansdale, "a true American original” and have compared THE THICKET to classics ranging from STAND BY ME to TRUE GRIT.  Landsale is represented by Brian Lipson of IPG.

Dinklage currently appears in the wildly popular HBO series Game of Thrones for which he received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his performance.  He recently starred in the summer blockbuster X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, and will next be seen in Columbia's PIXELS, opposite Adam Sandler.

Nunnari, best known for producing the thrillers Se7en, THE DEPARTED, and 300, is currently developing the historical epic NAPOLEON and BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT (Gavin O’Connor directing) through his Warner Brothers-based company Hollywood Gang, as well as GODS’ END for AMC.

Dinklage is repped by Ginsberg, CAA and attorney Karl Austen.