Marketing
Rising Star II
Download Marketing
Market Positioning
Rising Star II is positioned as a high-intensity, adult-skewing crime thriller aimed at audiences 30–65 who engage with politically charged, procedural-driven narratives that escalate from street-level crime into domestic terrorism and institutional collapse. Expanding on the grounded realism of the first film, the sequel moves into large-scale public stakes — coordinated attacks, radicalisation, and federal overreach — aligning it with prestige crime and political thrillers such as The Siege, Munich, and the later arcs of Mindhunter in its exploration of ideology, escalation, and moral compromise. The project is suited to a $15–25 million USD budget range, reflecting increased action set-pieces, multiple locations, and ensemble storytelling while remaining VFX-light and performance-led. Comparable films in this space have demonstrated strong performance through festival premieres, specialty theatrical release, and premium streaming acquisition, with particular strength in North America, the UK, Western Europe, and Australia. Rising Star II offers distributors a sequel that meaningfully broadens scale and urgency without abandoning character or realism, positioning it as a prestige crime franchise entry with strong international portability, topical relevance, and durable long-tail value across theatrical and streaming platforms.
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Comparable Titles – Sales Reference Table
Positioning Summary
Rising Star II occupies the commercially proven space between prestige crime cinema and modern political thrillers, offering buyers a sequel that raises stakes and scale without abandoning realism. Positioned in the $15–25M range, the film is well suited to festival-led launch, specialty theatrical play, and premium streaming acquisition, with strong international appeal driven by topical relevance, contained production risk, and franchise continuity.
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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, South Korea -
Optimal release pathway:
Festival premiere → specialty theatrical (key territories) → premium global streaming -
Commercial advantage:
Sequel recognition + topical relevance + controlled budget escalation provide strong downside protection with enhanced international presale potential.
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Rising Star II is a prestige political crime thriller sequel designed to perform strongly across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, leveraging heightened stakes, franchise continuity, and premium streamer demand for serious, globally relevant thrillers.
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RISING STAR II — One-Slide Finance Waterfall (FEATURE FILM)
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Total Production Budget
£15.0 million
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Contemporary political crime thriller (sequel)
Urban locations • Practical stunts • Controlled action • No VFX dependency
Prestige theatrical + streamer crossover with franchise value
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SOURCES OF FINANCE
RECOUPMENT WATERFALL (STANDARD FEATURE MODEL)
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Sales Agent Fees & Expenses
(typically 10–15% of gross receipts) -
Senior Lenders / Gap Finance
100% recoupment + agreed premium -
Equity Investors
100% recoupment + negotiated uplift (typically 20–30%) -
Producer Corridor
(10–20% of net profits) -
Backend Participation Pool
Writer / director / key cast
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RISK MITIGATION & COMMERCIAL UPSIDE
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Sequel recognition materially strengthens presale values
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Political crime thriller genre has proven global demand
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Action driven by practical execution, not VFX spend
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UK Film Tax Relief significantly reduces equity exposure
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Clear franchise pathway (Rising Star III) increases long-term value
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This budget places Rising Star II alongside successful £12–18M adult crime thrillers, optimised for festival visibility, specialty theatrical release, and premium streamer acquisition, rather than tentpole economics.