Entertainment · Film · 4 hrs ago
Nicolas Cage and Alexander Ludwig to Star in Prison-Gang Film ‘The Brand’
The Brand has cast Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig, Maria Bakalova and Gabriel Basso in a true-crime film about organized crime in the US prison system.
The film is based on an investigative article by journalist and author David Grann.
Ludwig plays a young prisoner who joins a powerful gang led by Carter Briggs, played by Cage, at San Quentin prison.
When authorities transfer gang members around the country to break up the group, the move helps spread its criminal network beyond prison walls.
The story follows Taylor as he gains power and struggles between loyalty to Briggs and a future with Lilly, played by Bakalova.
Vincent Grashaw will direct the film, with pre-production currently planned for early next year.
Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig, Gabriel Basso and Maria Bakalova are set to star in the true-crime film The Brand.
The film is based on David Grann’s investigative article in The New Yorker about the Aryan Brotherhood.
Vincent Grashaw will direct from a screenplay by Alessandro Camon.
The story follows a young prisoner who rises within a white prison gang and faces a choice between loyalty and building a future with the woman he loves.
Fortitude International has acquired international sales rights, and the film is slated to begin pre-production early next year.
- Who
- Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig, Gabriel Basso and Maria Bakalova are set to star.
- What
- The Brand is a true-crime film about organized crime in America’s prison system.
- When
- It is slated to begin pre-production early next year.
- Where
- The story is set in America’s prison system, including San Quentin.
- Why
- The film adapts David Grann’s investigative reporting about the Aryan Brotherhood and explores the rise of prison gangs.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The project had been in development as both a film and a TV prospect.
Deadline reported that the four actors were set to star and that Vincent Grashaw would direct.
Fortitude International planned to sell international rights at AFM.
The film was slated to start pre-production.
- Cast
- Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig, Gabriel Basso and Maria Bakalova
- Director
- Vincent Grashaw
- Screenplay
- Alessandro Camon
- Source material
- David Grann’s investigative New Yorker article about the Aryan Brotherhood
- International sales
- Fortitude International
- Pre-production
- Slated to start early 2027
What people are saying
The Brand is an epic gangster story, chronicling the rise of prison gangs in the age of mass incarceration, and one man’s personal journey to hell and back.
Alessandro Camon’s script for The Brand is a powerful and uncompromising adaptation of David Grann’s reporting