The film that Daisy Ridley told MovieWeb “feels to me like the first action movie I’ve done,” Cleaner, now has a release date. Quiver Distribution announced today that it has acquired North American rights to the Anton and Qwerty Films production, directed by James Bond mastermind Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, GoldenEye) and co-starring Clive Owen. The epic action film that tested Ridley’s physicality is set in, around, and on the side of one of the UK’s tallest buildings, One Canada Square. Quiver will release the film in theaters on February 21, 2025. The synopsis reads as follows:
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Cleaner
is set in present-day London. A group of radical activists, led by Clive Owen, take over an energy company’s annual gala, seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, played by Daisy Ridley, suspended 50 stories up on the outside of the building, to save those trapped inside.”
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“We are thrilled to be partnering with Martin Campbell and the Anton team to bring Cleaner to audiences in North America,” said Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman. “This film is such an intense ride featuring some of the most vigorous action sequences we have seen in years.” One year ago, while she was in production on the film, Daisy Ridley told MovieWeb:
“Right now I’m doing what feels like — and it’s not because I haven’t done action in other films — but [Cleaner] feels to me like the first action movie I’ve done. And it’s really hard work, but it’s really fun because I fu*king love action movies. I love John Wick. I love car chases. I love fights. I love all of that. So, we’re starting a big fight sequence tomorrow that I’m very excited about.”
Action Master Martin Campbell Directs ‘Cleaner’ with Daisy Ridley
According to Quiver’s press release, Martin Campbell said, “Cleaner is a nail-biting thriller, unique and original in both its characters and its setting. Much of the film takes place on the side of One Canada Square – hundreds of feet up in the air – and I want the audience to be up there with Joey in a stomach-churning, vertiginous experience.”
And Campbell knows “stomach-churning” action filmmaking. Campbell, who most recently directed the upcoming film Dirty Angels, starring Eva Green and Maria Bakalova, has been mastering the action genre for decades, having directed The Mask of Zorro, No Escape, The Foreigner, Edge of Darkness, Vertical Limit, and The Protégé. He was also the director behind possibly the best two James Bond movies of the past 35 years — GoldenEye and Casino Royale. So if his career and what Daisy Ridley has said about the film are any indication, Cleaner should be a killer film.
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Ridley previously told Slash Film, “The action is brutal. I was rewatching all of Martin’s films as we went, and what a filmmaker. Amazing performances, always a lot of humor, and amazing action set pieces. So, I felt like all of the action is what people think of with Martin oftentimes but also, emotionally, it was wonderful working with him. Such a taskmaster.” She continued about Campbell:
Many, many, many, many takes. One of his notes was, ‘Didn’t feel it that time. Try again.’ One of the things he said to an actor was, ‘Fake!’ Literally. It was amazing to work with someone who was so laser-focused on condition and togetherness, in amongst all of this fun action. Wonderful.
TJ Smith and Larry Greenberg negotiated the deal on behalf of Quiver Distribution; CAA Media Finance and Louis Balsan at Anton negotiated on behalf of the production. Cleaner will be in theaters on February 21, 2025.