Looks like we will soon be seeing Free Ride in theatres in the US and Canada! Phase 4 picked up the rights at Cannes last week. Read more below. I may have some set pictures from the movie to share with everyone later on too so check back. =)

Phase 4 Films acquired all U.S. and Canadian rights to writer-director Shana Betz’s feature directorial debut Free Ride. The film stars Anna Paquin, Cam Gigandet, Drea De Matteo, Liana Liberato, Jeff Hephner, Brit Morgan and Ava Acres. Scripted by Betz, the film is produced by Susan Dynner, Cerise Hallam Larkin, Chris Swinney and Paquin, and executive produced by Mark Larkin and Stephen Moyer. This is the first film production from Paquin and Moyer’s new production company CASM. Phase 4 will release the film later this year in theaters and on demand. Paquin and Moyer star together in HBO’s True Blood. Set in the 1970s and based on her life story, Betz’s accomplished directorial debut is a provocative crime thriller: Paquin plays a single mother who moves to Florida with her daughters in search of a better life but gets pulled into the high-stakes drug-trade business.

“Shana Betz has written and directed a poignant and gripping film anchored by a powerful performance by Anna Paquin,” says Phase 4′s Barry Meyerowitz. “We look forward to working with Shana, and the entire cast and producing team to bring this film to audiences.”

“It’s always very exciting to discover talented writers and directors at the beginning of their careers. Based on the life story of Shana Betz, our writer-director, Free Ride tells an emotionally intense story of survival, and the lengths a mother will go to, to take care of her children,” said Paquin. “This was a story we felt passionately needed to be told. We are thrilled that Phase 4 is as excited about the film as we are and look forward to working with them.”

Phase 4′s Larry Greenberg and Katharyn Howe did the deal with Paradigm’s Nick LoPiccolo and attorney Ron Levin. Featured Artists Agency’s Brian Dreyfuss reps Betz and was heavily involved in packaging the movie. Cargo Entertainment is handling international sales.

Source

At the film’s press day, actress Liana Liberato spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how she came to be a part of the film, why she related to her character, being able to get involved with the action, and the experience of shooting in Montreal and Brussels. She also talked about her upcoming projects Stuck in Love and Haunt, doing a comedy, her desire to play a superhero in a comic book movie, and her love of screenwriting. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Collider: How did you come to this film?

LIANA LIBERATO: I met with Aaron [Eckhart]. I had a very awkward interview with him, back in 2011, and I guess that he liked me. I auditioned for the role. I sent my tape in to Philipp Stölzl, who was in Montreal doing pre-production. And they decided to take a risk and hire me.

Before all the craziness in this movie starts, your character is a pretty typical teenager. Was she someone that you felt you could identify with, in that regard?

LIBERATO: Sure! I have not lost my mother. She’s very much alive. I can’t imagine what a teenager would go through, having lost a loved one, and then getting picked up from their friends and family and moved to a foreign country. I think how she responds in the beginning is perfectly normal. I think that it’s very, very real.

Your character, Amy, has a passion for photography. Was that fun for you to play around with?

LIBERATO: That was a cool camera. I had never used film before, so I had someone come in and help me and teach me how to do it. It’s hard, but it was really fun. I liked it a lot. Aaron shoots with film, personally. He’s such a pro at it and just clicks away.

Was it important to you to make sure that this girl never really becomes the victim?

LIBERATO: Yeah. I would be so terrible in this situation. I would have been dead within the first 10 minutes. She’s a trooper, in my opinion. She learns to adapt to the situation, and ultimately helps her father, which I think is great. I found that very admirable in her.

From the first reveal in the story, this movie moves at a pretty frantic pace. Was that exhausting to keep up with?

LIBERATO: It was difficult because normally, as an actor, in the beginning of a scene, you work up to an intense emotion, but in this, you had to run into a scene, completely exhausted and terrified and confused. You had to be at the top of this emotional roller coaster, at all times, which was difficult, but it was really fun, and something I had never done before.

No matter how hectic the drama and action gets, the film always comes back to the father-daughter relationship. Was that important to you?

LIBERATO: Absolutely! I think that it makes the movie more personal. It’s so easy with action films to just make it all about the action and have no root, but I think that’s what’s different about this. You care about these two people and their relationship, and how they grow throughout this situation.

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Some short previews from the Stuck in Love soundtrack, The Writers Playlist, have been shared with us. You can listen to them below from Youtube. Both videos feature the same song (At Your Door by Nathaniel Walcott, Make Mogis, and Big Harp) but there’s a bunch of new clips from the film in both videos. Check ‘em out! =) The soundtrack is now available on iTunes!

Some actresses work their way into the public consciousness as much through tabloid shenanigans as any of their actual on-screen performances. Only 17 years old, Liana Liberato is opting for hard work, thank you very much. In director David Schwimmer’s underrated “Trust,” she delivered a stunning turn as an innocent 14-year-old suburban girl lured into a sexual liaison via online chatting — an act with ruinous consequences for her and her parents (Clive Owen and Catherine Keener). In her new film, the “Bourne”-inflected “Erased,” she stars as Amy, the crafty daughter of ex-CIA agent Ben Logan (Aaron Eckhart); the two try to escape a contract rub-out and outsmart their hunters as part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy. For ShockYa, Brent Simon recently had a chance to talk to Liberato one-on-one, about “Erased,” technology, international travel and life after high school. The conversation is excerpted below:

ShockYa: “Trust,” which was great, was about an online predator… but also this huge gulf between your character and her father, and all the distrust and alienation that followed the abuse. In “Erased,” your character finds out a shocking truth about her father, but Amy is able to move on and re-connect with Ben quite quickly.

Liana Liberato: Yeah, they’re in two very different head spaces, I think. Annie was completely against her father until the very end of the film, whereas with Amy she learns to adapt to her situation and ultimately help her dad. So I really liked the contrast between the two. I’m starting to see a pattern — my characters have a lot of daddy issues. (laughs)

ShockYa: “Erased” is set in Brussels — was this your first chance to shoot abroad?

LL: Yes, and it was my first time out of the United States. It was definitely a culture shock, but I had a great time. Brussels is beautiful, and we filmed half of [the movie in] Montreal, which is also amazing and had the best food ever. (laughs) We had one month in Montreal, and then we got two weeks off because production had to move everything to Brussels. I had flown back to Texas to be with my family, and then I went to Brussels for another month. And then, after we finished filming, I spent two weeks and traveled Europe a little bit. It was great. You have to take advantage of those things. I was 15 when I did the film, so my parents were on set with me, and then after we wrapped my grandma flew out and we did our little family vacation with her.

ShockYa: What’s it like having to juggle schoolwork and filming, and still have some semblance of a normal teenage life?

LL: It’s funny, because there are times where you’re just so crammed with other things to do that it’s hard to get any schoolwork done, but I do have a lot of downtime when I’m not working and I try to take advantage of those moments so I can bang out a little bit of my work. But luckily I only have about one week left of school, and then I’ll be graduated and everything! My mom normally stays on top of me. And when I was younger I had a tutor on set, and we had to legally put in about five hours every day.

ShockYa: Do you have any big post-high school plans, then? Are you thinking about college?

LL: All of my friends have graduated, I’m the runt. I’ve always had schoolwork hanging over my head as I’ve worked, and I’ve felt that it would be nice to take at least one year off and focus strictly on reading scripts and books and working as much as I possibly can. If I continue to have momentum then I’ll probably just do that. But if anything happens to slow down or I see a gap in my schedule I’d love to eventually go to NYU — if I can get in, I’m acting like I can, I don’t even know — and study some screenwriting or something.

ShockYa: As someone whose life recently was screwed up by the mere lack of an Internet connection, I’m jealous of Ben’s facility in “Erased.” His bank records and entire digital life get erased, and he just adjusts on the fly. Are you a big techie yourself — can you trouble-shoot all your own digital-era problems?

LL: I have the iPhone and stuff, but I don’t have any of those crazy-cool apps, so I’m kind of a little behind. It depends on what it is you ask me about. I could never act like Ben in the film — I can’t connect wires and talk on a dead phone. (laughs)

ShockYa: Are you a big texter? Do you find yourself connected to most of your friends via technology?

LL: In general I think that technology is incredibly addicting, and we’re constantly on our phones. I think people have to make a conscious effort to put their phones down and communicate with the person sitting next to them. I try to put my phone in my purse when I’m at dinner or with another person, but I think it definitely changes the way we communicate with people — a lot of the things that we wish we could say in person we say on the phone instead. And I think that’s kind of a downfall for us, because we should be able to puff our chests up and say it to their faces.

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Here’s some news to get excited about, Liana fans! She has booked a new film, which is beginning filming this week! It is called Dear Eleanor and will co-star Super 8′s Joel Courtney. There is no information about Liana’s role (or much of the movie, really) just yet but here is a very brief synopsis.

Two best friends go on a road trip across the USA in the early 1960′s to find and meet their childhood hero, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Not a lot to go on, but it sounds like a really amazing film already! It will be filming in Longmont, Colorado now until sometime in June and if you’re in that area, you can sign up to an extra. The film is being produced by The Hunger Games actress and one of Liana’s best friends, Isabelle Furhman; how awesome is that?! We will keep everyone updated as more information comes to light. You can also follow production on Twitter, @DearEleanorFilm.

Liana stopped by Good Day LA this morning to promote Erased, which is in theatres next weekend! You can watch the entire interview below and screencaptures are coming shortly.