Paramount takes David Oyelowo, Kate Mara film ‘Captive’

Paramount Pictures is back in the David Oyelowo business.

The studio announced Monday that it has acquired worldwide distribution rights to “Captive,” a true-crime thriller starring Oyelowo and Kate Mara. The film will hit theaters Sept. 18.

Oyelowo, best known for portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in the Paramount-released drama “Selma,” will play Brian Nichols, who escaped custody in an Atlanta courthouse in 2005 and killed a judge, a sheriff’s deputy, a court clerk and a federal agent.

Mara (Netflix’s “House of Cards,” Fox’s upcoming “Fantastic Four” reboot) will play Ashley Smith, a troubled suburban widow who was kidnapped by Nichols but placated him with the help of pastor Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life.” She ultimately escaping unharmed.

Jerry Jameson is directing “Captive” from a screenplay by Brian Bird, based on Smith’s book “Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero” (written with Stacy Mattingly).

The cast also includes Michael K. Williams, Mimi Rogers, Jessica Oyelowo (Oyelowo’s wife) and Leonor Varela.

“Captive” represents the latest but not the only “Selma” reunion for Oyelowo: He’s also reteaming with director Ava DuVernay for a Hurricane Katrina drama and production company Plan B for “Americanah,” about the relationship between two young Nigerian immigrants.

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