Lionsgate Acquires Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson Western ‘By Way of Helena’

Added to the list of Cannes acquisitions over the weekend was the western By Way of Helena, according to Variety. Lionsgate picked up the film directed by Aussie Keiran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here). It stars Hunger Games actors Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson and tells the story of a Texas ranger who investigates a series of mysterious deaths in a town called Helena. 

The script was penned by Matt Cook, who also wrote Triple 9, another Harrelson flick that hits theaters on September 11th. By Way of Helena also stars William Hurt (Into the Wild), Alice Braga (I Am Legend), and Emory Cohen (The Place Beyond the Pines).

Lionsgate made the acquisition on the heels of two other big buys at the festival – Genius starring Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Gus Van Sant’s Sea of Trees. As Lionsgate already has a growing relationship with By Way of Helena‘s two main actors from The Hunger Games franchise, this particular distribution deal seems especially fitting for the studio. Lionsgate will release the film sometime later this year.

Until then, Hemsworth will be seen in the crime drama Cut Bank with Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies), in The Dressmaker with Kate Winslet (The Reader), and in the final Hunger Games installment: Mockingjay – Part 2. Harrelson will join him in the YA series’ final film, as well as the aforementioned Triple 9 and the Now You See Me sequel.