Investor prospectus for the feature film THE CELLIST

A cellist alone on a darkened concert hall stage under a single overhead light.
PLACEHOLDER — FOOTAGE

DERMOT MULRONEY

THECELLIST

THE WORLD KNOWS THE CELLIST.

THE UNDERWORLD KNOWS THE KILLER.

SCROLL
GENRE
ACTION THRILLER
FORMAT
FEATURE / THEATRICAL
BUDGET TIER
INDEPENDENT — [TBD]
LEAD
DERMOT MULRONEY
A world-class cellist who moonlights as an elite hitman learns he has terminal cancerand walks away from the criminal family he's killed for — only to become their next target,forcing him into a bloody final war against the killers he once called family.
IIISYNOPSIS

Empty concert hall lit by a single stage light.A lonely desert highway at dusk.A dim hotel corridor at night.A guarded hillside estate seen through iron gates.
PLACEHOLDER

PATRICK QUINN is a world-renowned cellist whose hands can command a concert hall — and kill a man with the same precision. For decades, Quinn has lived a secret double life as an elite contract killer for STAVROS, the powerful crime boss who raised him like a son. His signature weapon is as unconventional as the man himself: a razor-edged cello bow.

When Quinn is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides he's finished killing. He walks away from Stavros and heads for Mexico, determined to spend whatever time he has left on his own terms.

Then he meets SABRINA, a young waitress trying to escape an abusive boyfriend and rebuild a life with her daughter. When Quinn steps in to protect her, she becomes part of his journey — and a target. Because Stavros's volatile son, NIKOS, refuses to let Quinn simply disappear.

Killers are sent after them. Quinn responds the only way he knows how. Hotel rooms become battlegrounds. Bodies begin to fall. And the dying assassin who wanted to leave violence behind is forced to become the lethal man everyone feared one last time. He is fighting the one enemy he can't defeat: time.

With nowhere left to run, Quinn turns around and takes the war directly to the criminal family that made him — cutting his way through their heavily guarded estate for a final confrontation with Nikos.

IVTHE HOOK

THIS IS NOT A CASTING NOTE. IT IS THE PRODUCTION'S CENTRAL ASSET.

Concept art: a cellist in silhouette, seen in profile, holding a bow in a darkened concert hall.
PLACEHOLDER — PORTRAIT
  1. 01

    NO DOUBLE, NO CHEAT.

    Dermot Mulroney is a working cellist who has performed on the scores of Jurassic World, Zootopia, Rogue One, and multiple Star Trek and Star Wars films. Every performance sequence can be shot in-camera, on his hands, in a single take.

  2. 02

    THE SCORE IS THE MARKETING.

    A lead who can actually play means the score becomes a first-party asset — performance footage, a soundtrack release, and a press narrative no competing action title can replicate.

  3. 03

    THE WEAPON IS THE INSTRUMENT.

    The bow is both the character's art and his method of killing. An audience that believes the playing believes the killing.

PERFORMANCE TEST — CLICK TO PLAYTAKE 01
VFOUR SUBJECTS / CLASSIFIED

TAP EACH CARD TO DECLASSIFY

Dossier concept art: a man's side profile traced by a single edge light against darkness.
STATUS: TERMINALPLACEHOLDER

PATRICK QUINN

World-renowned cellist. Elite contractkiller. Weapon of choice: arazor-edged bow. Hehas a year,maybe less, andno intention ofspending itthe way hespent the lastforty.
Dossier portrait slot: an older crime boss seated in a dim study.
STATUS: FATHERPLACEHOLDER

STAVROS

The crimeboss who raised Quinn likea sonand built him into aweapon. Hedoes not forgive beingleft.
Dossier portrait slot: a young man backlit in a red-lit corridor.
STATUS: VOLATILEPLACEHOLDER

NIKOS

Stavros's son. Hewas never Quinn's equaland he has alwaysknown it.He would ratherburn the familydown than let Quinnwalk.
Dossier portrait slot: a waitress silhouetted against a dusty window.
STATUS: COLLATERALPLACEHOLDER

SABRINA

A waitress runningfrom an abusive boyfriend withher daughter in tow.She is the first personin decades Quinn has chosento protect insteadof remove.
VIVISUAL TREATMENT

Empty ornate concert hall at night.PLACEHOLDER
CONCERT HALL / 50MM / GOLD + DEEP SHADOW
Desert highway at dusk with distant headlights.PLACEHOLDER
SONORA / 40MM / DUST + TUNGSTEN
Dim hotel corridor lit by one lamp.PLACEHOLDER
HOTEL / 32MM / PRACTICALS + TEAL
Guarded hillside estate behind iron gates.PLACEHOLDER
ESTATE / 85MM / IRON + POOL LIGHT

CONCERT HALL

DESERT

HOTEL

ESTATE

VIIKEY ART CONCEPTS

TAP TO PLAY EACH TREATMENT — TAP AGAIN TO ENLARGE

CONCEPT 01THE BOW STROKE
CONCEPT 02THE UNBLUR
CONCEPT 03THE STRING SNAP
CONCEPT 04THE NEGATIVE
VIIICOMPARABLES

Contained, character-led action thrillers with a distinctive hook and a recognizable lead return disproportionately against budget.

  • THE BEEKEEPER (2024)

    $40M BUDGET  ·  $162.6M WORLDWIDE
    0.0x

  • JOHN WICK (2014)

    ~$20–30M BUDGET  ·  $86.1M WORLDWIDE
    0.0x

  • NOBODY (2021)

    $16M BUDGET  ·  $57.5M WORLDWIDE
    0.0x

  • SISU (2022)

    ~$6.5M BUDGET  ·  $14.3M WORLDWIDE
    0.0x

$0B+

JOHN WICK FRANCHISE, WORLDWIDE, FOUR FILMS

$0M

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 WORLDWIDE, ON A $100M BUDGET

0x

THE BEEKEEPER RETURN ON PRODUCTION BUDGET

Figures are publicly reported production budgets and worldwide theatrical gross. Comparable titles are indicative of category performance and are not a projection of this film's results.

IXSTRUCTURE

A single-picture financing structure: incentive-backed, presale-supported, and sized so the film can recoup inside the category it competes in rather than above it.

NEGATIVE COST

TOTAL PRODUCTION BUDGET

[TBD]
SOFT MONEY

STATE / NATIONAL PRODUCTION INCENTIVE

[TBD]
EQUITY SOUGHT

CASH REQUIREMENT AFTER SOFT MONEY

[TBD]
PRESALES

ESTIMATED INTERNATIONAL MINIMUM GUARANTEES

[TBD]
GAP / DEBT

IF APPLICABLE

[TBD]
PROJECTED RETURN

MODELLED, NOT GUARANTEED

[TBD]

RECOUPMENT ORDER

  1. 01SENIOR DEBT AND FINANCING FEES
  2. 02EQUITY PRINCIPAL, RETURNED IN FULL
  3. 03PREFERRED RETURN TO EQUITY
  4. 04PROFIT SPLIT, EQUITY / PRODUCERS
  5. 05DEFERMENTS AND PARTICIPATIONS

PLACEHOLDER TERMS — WATERFALL SUBJECT TO FINAL FINANCING AGREEMENTS AND COUNSEL REVIEW.

This page is informational and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities. Any investment would be made solely on the terms of executed documentation.

XDISTRIBUTION

The film is built to sell before it is built to screen: a describable hook, a recognizable lead, and a budget that international buyers in this category already know how to price.

01

SALES AGENT

Attach an established action-genre sales agent ahead of principal photography. [AGENT TBD]

02

MARKETS & PRESALES

Package taken to AFM, EFM and Cannes: cast, key art and script in market before the shoot.

03

TERRITORIES

Action travels. Priority territories: Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Middle East.

04

DOMESTIC WINDOW

Limited theatrical or PVOD to establish the title, then a premium streaming window. [DISTRIBUTOR TBD]

PLACEHOLDER STRATEGY — SALES AGENT, TERRITORY ESTIMATES AND WINDOWING TO BE CONFIRMED.

XITHESIS

A HOOK NOBODY OWNS.

Assassin films are a crowded category. An assassin who is a genuine concert cellist, killing with his bow, is a premise the audience has not seen and can describe to a friend in one sentence.

A TICKING CLOCK BUILT IN.

The terminal diagnosis gives the film its structure, its stakes, and its ending. Quinn cannot win by surviving. That constraint is what separates this from the category.

CONTAINED AND CONTROLLABLE.

Hotel rooms, a desert highway, a single estate. The action is designed around locations that are producible at an independent budget without looking like one.

XIITIMELINE

A conventional independent path from close to delivery, staged so financing, incentive and shoot dates line up rather than compete.

  1. DEVELOPMENT

    COMPLETE

    Script locked, package assembled, lead attached.

  2. FINANCING

    [TBD]

    Equity close, incentive application, sales agent attachment.

  3. PREP

    [TBD]

    Six weeks: locations, stunt design, cello coaching and rehearsal.

  4. PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

    [TBD]

    [TBD] shooting days across concert hall, highway, hotel and estate.

  5. POST

    [TBD]

    Cut, original score recorded live to picture, sound and finish.

  6. DELIVERY

    [TBD]

    Full delivery to sales agent and distributors.

PLACEHOLDER DATES — SCHEDULE SET ON FINANCING CLOSE AND LEAD AVAILABILITY.

XIIIABOVE THE LINE

PLACEHOLDER — PORTRAIT

DERMOT MULRONEY

LEAD / PATRICK QUINN

A four-decade screen career across Young Guns, My Best Friend's Wedding, Point of No Return, Copycat, The Grey, Scream VI and Anyone but You, with television work in Secret Invasion and Chicago Fire. He is also a working cellist who has performed on the scores of Jurassic World, Zootopia and Rogue One.

  • YOUNG GUNS
  • MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING
  • POINT OF NO RETURN
  • COPYCAT
  • THE GREY
  • SCREAM VI
  • ANYONE BUT YOU
  • SECRET INVASION (TV)
  • CHICAGO FIRE (TV)
  • CELLO — JURASSIC WORLD
  • CELLO — ZOOTOPIA
  • CELLO — ROGUE ONE
PLACEHOLDER — PORTRAIT

ART CAMACHO

WRITER

A career built in action from the inside. Camacho began as a stuntman and fight choreographer with credits on more than 50 action films before moving to directing, working with Steven Seagal on Half Past Dead 2 and Scott Adkins on The Chemist. This script was written by someone who has physically staged action, so the fight design on the page is shootable on a budget.

  • HALF PAST DEAD 2 (DIR.)
  • THE CHEMIST (DIR.)
  • RECOIL (DIR.)
  • CONFESSIONS OF A PIT FIGHTER (DIR.)
  • SOFT TARGET (DIR.)
  • RUTHLESS (DIR.)
  • THE WRECKER (DIR.)
  • 50+ FILMS — STUNTS / FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
PLACEHOLDER — PORTRAIT

JASON ABUSTAN

PRODUCER

[BIO AND CREDITS TO BE SUPPLIED]

  • [CREDITS TO BE SUPPLIED]
XIVCALL SHEET

FORMAT
Feature film, theatrical
GENRE
Action thriller
COMPARABLES
John Wick, The Beekeeper, Nobody, Sisu
RUNTIME
[TBD] minutes
SHOOT
[TBD] days
LOCATIONS
[TBD]
STATUS
[TBD]
XV

ENTER THE VAULT