Marketing
Rising Star
Market Positioning
Rising Star is positioned as a gritty, adult-skewing crime thriller aimed at audiences 30–65 who respond to morally complex police procedurals, corruption narratives, and character-driven neo-noir set against real social decay. Set in mid-1980s New York at the intersection of law enforcement, organised crime, politics, and the emerging drug epidemic, the screenplay aligns with prestige crime titles such as Serpico, The French Connection, and more recent works like Zodiac in its procedural detail, bleak worldview, and emphasis on systemic failure rather than heroic resolution. The project is well suited to a $10–20 million USD budget range, achievable through period-authentic but contained urban locations, limited visual effects, and performance-led storytelling. Comparable films in this space have demonstrated strong performance through festival premieres, specialty theatrical release, and premium streaming platforms, with particular strength in North America, the UK, Western Europe, and Australia. Rising Star offers distributors a hard-edged, socially grounded crime narrative with franchise or limited-series potential, positioning it as a prestige crime property with strong international appeal, durable long-tail value, and relevance for contemporary audiences reassessing institutional power and accountability.
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Comparable Titles – Sales Reference Table
Positioning Summary
Rising Star occupies the commercially proven space of adult prestige crime cinema, offering buyers a period-authentic New York thriller with strong character drive, limited VFX exposure, and enduring international appeal. Positioned in the $10–20M range, the project is well suited for festival launch, specialty theatrical play, and premium streamer acquisition, with franchise or limited-series expansion potential driven by its world and characters rather than IP dependency.
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Territory-by-Territory Sales Expectations
Positioning Against Comps
Overall Sales Profile (Agent Summary)
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Primary revenue drivers:
North America, UK/Ireland, France, Germany, Australia/New Zealand -
Optimal release pathway:
Festival premiere → specialty theatrical (key territories) → premium streaming / broadcaster -
Commercial strength:
Recognisable genre, period authenticity, limited VFX exposure, and moral urgency create strong downside protection with solid long-tail international performance.
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Rising Star is a prestige period crime thriller designed to perform strongly across North America, the UK, and Western Europe, leveraging festival credibility and premium streamer demand for adult, socially grounded crime narratives.