EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Dorff (True Detective) and Kevin Dillon (Entourage) are set to star in Red Stick Hoods, a Southern crime thriller launching sales at Cannes with Iuvit Media Sales.

Set in Baton Rouge’s neon-lit underworld, Red Stick Hoods follows a seasoned criminal and his volatile young partner as a routine job spirals into a violent chain reaction neither can control.

Lance Kawas (Good Thief, Boneyard) will direct and produce, with production getting underway this fall. Marking the first original screenplay by crime novelist Victor Gischler (Fast Charlie), the film was packaged by HBK F.C.’s Hicham Benkirane (Murder City), who is exec producing alongside Ahmed Boomrod and Iuvit’s Max Czertok.

“For me, Red Stick Hoods is ultimately about loyalty and the cost of breaking the rules in a world that doesn’t forgive mistakes,” Kawas said. “It’s a character-driven crime story built around a complicated relationship, and my goal is to bring that to life in a way that feels grounded, tense and emotionally real.”

Czertok added, “At Iuvit, we’re excited to represent Red Stick Hoods, a tense, character-driven action thriller with clear international appeal.”

For Dorff, other upcoming projects include Lear Rex opposite Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain, and Brad Furman’s People Not Places opposite Shirley MacLaine. He is repped by Mosaic and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.

Dillon was recently in Reagan with Dennis Quaid and stars in the upcoming action thriller Complex, Texas. He is repped by Buchwald, Gallant Management, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

Iuvit’s Cannes slate also includes April X starring Lilly Krug and Connor Storrie, Knight Fighter starring Daniel Stisen, Station Break starring Billy Burke, and the sci-fi action titles Screamers and Tug of War.

Gischler is repped by David Hale Smith Literary.