Butler and Alan Siegel’s production company is teaming with Adeleke for his feature directorial debut, which delves into the world of human trafficking and organ harvesting.
Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel have teamed back up with Remi Adeleke, the star of upcoming action-thriller The Plane.
The duo’s G-Base production company — behind The Plane, set for a January release with Lionsgate, plus fellow high-octane titles such as Greenland, Angel Has Fallen and Den of Thieves — has boarded Unexpected Redemption, Adeleke’s feature directorial debut, which is having its market premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Unexpected Redemption is based on Adeleke’s human-trafficking/organ harvesting short film The Unexpected, which he wrote, directed and produced. Set for a Sep. 30 release, based on true events and told through the lens of its two victims, The Unexpected unearths an elaborate international human-trafficking/organ harvesting ring and its link to terrorism.
Picking up five years on, the feature length action-thriller Unexpected Redemption delves deeper into the dark and treacherous world of human trafficking, specifically focusing on the rarely talked about world of organ harvesting.
The Hollywood Reporter understands that the wide industry acclaim and interest around The Unexpected short played a huge role in G-Base coming on board to produce the feature, alongside other entities soon to be announced.
“After working with Remi on The Plane and observing his talents first-hand, we’re so excited to be working with him,” said Siegel.
“Human trafficking is the fastest growing illegal enterprise in the world, and organ harvesting is one of the ugliest forms and least reported on,” said Adeleke, former Navy SEAL who alongside The Plane has also starred in Ambulance, 6 Underground, Terminal List and Transformers: The Last Knight. “There are more people enslaved around the world today than any other time in human history. And, as a descendent of slaves on my mother’s side, I felt it would be a travesty for me to not use my background and real-world experiences to expose this evil.”
In Unexpected Redemption, loyalties are tested when Rudy Rivera, a former special forces operator and current GRS-CIA operative is called to fulfill the last wishes of his estranged brother, Diego who has spent the last seven years organ trafficking around the world. Rudy will embark on a journey with two former GRS operatives/human trafficking NGOs to take down one of the largest international organ-harvesting rings that has ever existed.
The success of the short film has also led to Tenderfoot TV sourcing the IP for a nonfiction podcast series titled The Unexpected Podcast. They are also developing a fiction podcast with Adeleke centered around organ harvesting titled B1 Butcher. Based on true events, the series is in partnership with John Dryden and Brett Neichin of Lights Out.
“It’s been a great experience to work with Remi to develop content with a larger purpose in mind,” said Donald Albright, co-founder and president of Tenderfoot TV. “He is diving into a plethora of important topics from sex trafficking and organ harvesting to forced labor, all of which are more relevant than ever in today’s landscape.” Both shows are set for release in 2023 and will be available on all podcast platforms.
A celebrated author known for bestselling memoir Transformed: A Navy SEAL’s Unlikely Journey from the Throne of Africa, to the Streets of the Bronx, to Defying All Odds and the upcoming Chameleon book series with Harper Collins William Murrow, Adeleke’s path towards directing began as a military consultant on multiple big budget films with Michael Bay, as well as the upcoming Netflix film, Here Comes The Flood by Simon Kinberg. He’s also consulted on military related commercials and television shows such as Invasion for Apple TV and FOX’s upcoming newly announced Special Forces: The Ultimate Test/
More information on Unexpected Redemption, including casting and production will be announced in due course.