Solstice Studios recently bought the worldwide rights to Good Joe Bell, a new drama starring Mark Wahlberg and written by the Oscar-winning duo that penned Brokeback Mountain, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. The deal was negotiated by Crystal Bourbeau, Head Acquisitions & International and Mark Gill for Solstice Studios.

Wahlberg plays the title character, an average guy who has a tough time showing supporting and accepting his recently uncloseted teenage son, Jadin. Ashamed of his inability to help his son, who is subjected to merciless bullying by school jocks, Joe Bell vows to walk cross country to protest bullying and the dangerous impact it has on young people who are different.

Good Joe Bell premiered recently at the mostly virtual 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. The film has received somewhat mixed reviews, earning a 57 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with 21 reviews.

Solstice Studios released its first feature film, Unhinged, a psychological thriller starring Russell Crowe. Last year, Solstice Studios struck a deal with Studio 8 to produce the next film from writer-director Robert Rodriguez, Hypnotic. The film will star Ben Affleck and is said to be a mind-bending action thriller that will ‘make you question your own reality.’

Good Joe Bell is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, whose last feature film, Monsters and Men, received high praise from critics and audiences in 2019.