Greenwich Entertainment Acquires Rights to Ryan White’s Assassins

Greenwich Entertainment Acquires Rights to Ryan White’s <i> Assassins </i> 1

September 9, 2020 – – Greenwich Entertainment announced today the acquisition of North American rights to Assassins, directed by Ryan White (The Keepers, The Case Against 8). The film premiered to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival and will be a strong awards contender following its theatrical release on December 4.

Assassins is a jaw-dropping exposé of the horrifying assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. With unprecedented access to the key players and previously undisclosed evidence, the film questions every angle of this murder from human trafficking to high-level political espionage to the inner dynamics of the North Korean royal family.

In 2017, Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in broad daylight at a crowded Malaysian airport. The brazen murder was caught entirely by security cameras with footage showing two young women approaching Jong-nam from behind and covering his eyes with their hands. He stumbled away and was dead within an hour.

While the murder was astonishing, the story behind the headline was even more bizarre. The two women, who had never met, claimed they had been hired for a video prank show and had no idea what they were actually doing. Despite their claim, they were arrested and charged with murder. Imprisoned in a foreign land and facing execution, the young women begged for authorities to believe their outlandish tale. From the sanctums of Pyongyang to the rice fields of Indonesia and Vietnam to the courtrooms of Kuala Lumpur, Assassins masterfully investigates the real story of Kim Jong-nam’s murder and the two women fighting for their lives.

“Like most people, we had seen the headlines of this brazen political murder. But in making Assassins, we were repeatedly shocked to find how bizarre, deep and twisted the truth really is,” said director Ryan White. “We’re thrilled to partner with Greenwich in bringing this unbelievable story to audiences.”

“Ryan is one of the leading documentary filmmakers working today and Assassins is one of the strongest documentaries of the year,” said Greenwich’s Andy Bohn. “Ryan deftly peels back the personal and political layers in this jaw-dropping exposé and audiences will be astonished.”

Ryan White is the director of Ask Dr. Ruth (Hulu) and the Emmy-nominated series The Keepers (Netflix). White also directed The Case Against 8 (HBO), which won the U.S. Documentary Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for an Academy Award.

Assassins was produced by Jessica Hargrave and Ryan White. Executive producers are Doug Bock Clark, Blaine Vess, Esther Vess, Dan Cogan, and Geralyn White Dreyfous. Greenwich’s Bohn negotiated the acquisition with Submarine and William Morris Endeavor representing the filmmakers.

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