EXCLUSIVE: Old Henry and O Brother, Where Art Thou star Tim Blake Nelson is set to star in western Where the Sparrows Fly, which Alliance Media Partners (AMP) is launching for this week’s American Film Market.
Set on the desolate frontier, Where the Sparrows Fly follows Truman Kersh, a drifting con-man and card-shark, whose latest scam ends in bloodshed. Fleeing through the wilderness, haunted by guilt and hunted by the law, Truman’s grip on reality begins to fray as he crosses paths with a rag-tag band of settlers whose secrets are as buried as the graves they pass.
Doug Metzger, first AD on movies including Dances with Wolves, K-9 and Scary Movie 3, is producing with Anthony Baden Saggers for Sunshine the Horse Limited, alongside Tim Blake Nelson’s Red Barn Films. Anthony Baden Saggers will also direct.
Principal photography is due to begin early 2026 in Gran Canaria, Spain, in association with Canary Productions. Additional casting is in process.
Nelson, who currently co-stars in FX series The Lowdown, will also serve as an executive-producer. He will next be seen in Searchlight’s The Testament of Ann Lee, and as an author, on December 2 his second novel, Superhero, will be published by Unnamed Press.
Anthony Baden Saggers said: “Where the Sparrows Fly strips the western to its starkest elements – it’s a portrait of humanity, fortune and the cost of survival on the edge of civilization.”
Anthony Buckner, AMP’s Head of Sales and Acquisitions added: “Audiences are hungry for westerns that have something deeper to say, and Where the Sparrows Fly hits that mark perfectly. It’s atmospheric, violent, and anchored by one of the greatest character actors around.”
