STUDIO 8’s long-in-the-making period adventure film “Alpha” has locked down its China release date. Directed by Albert Hughes, the film takes place 20,000 years ago in Europe, during the last Ice Age. The story centers on a young man (“X-Men: Apocalypse”’s Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is injured and left for dead by his tribe while on a hunt. The young tribesman then finds and befriends a wolf, who has been abandoned by his pack, and the two team up to fight for survival. Johannes Haukur Johannesson co-stars. Studio 8 was founded in 2014 by former Warner Bros. boss Jeff Robinov. The company has a distribution deal at Sony but its principle backer is Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, which can be expected to give “Alpha” a heavy push in China. “Alpha” will hit Chinese screens following Marvel and Disney’s “Ant-Man & the Wasp” on Aug. 24 and Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” on Aug. 31. “Alpha” opens in North America courtesy of Sony Pictures on Friday, Aug. 17. (SD-Agencies) |