MJ Basset (Power, Strike Back, Ash vs Evil Dead) directs the action-adventure film, which also stars Philip Winchester (Strike Back, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), BAFTA Rising Star winner Adam Deacon (Casualty), and South African stars Jessica Sutton (Motherland: Fort Salem, The Kissing Booth), Sisanda Henna (Trackers, Griekwastad), Brandon Auret (District 9, Elysium, Still Breathing), Kenneth Fok (Warrior) and Greg Kriek (Black Mirror), one of South Africa’s busiest actors, with over 50 international screen credits to his name. 

While Megan has turned down numerous military films since Transformers, she accepted Rogue partly because of the attraction of coming to Africa. “I felt like my life was going to change going to Africa,” Fox told New York Daily News. “And I didn’t know why; I just knew that I had to do this project for some reason.” 

The decision paid off. “Megan Fox in Rogue redefines her reputation and career,” says Refinery29, who add that the film “straddles the two phases of Megan Fox’s life: her early days as an action star too often used as a prop for the male gaze, and her future as a woman taking charge of her own destiny…”

As Basset told Refinery29, “[I wanted] to make Megan credible, rather than this sex object that’s she so frequently used for by male filmmakers… I said, ‘There’s no romance in here; you’re not wearing skimpy T-shirts or short-shorts. You’re carrying full battle rattle, and I’m going to expect you to get dirty and bruised.’She was quite excited by that, to be honest.”

While ultimately an escapist action movie, Rogue also spotlights the abuse of lions in Africa. “This film is fiction,” says Basset, who wrote the movie as a passion project with her daughter, Isabel, who has a cameo in the film. “But the facts are that in 2019 there were over 12 000 lions in ‘farms’ in South Africa. Though this is legal, most are being kept in appalling conditions before being killed for their skins, bones and other body parts to supply traditional medicine markets. Cubs are bred and used for petting zoos until too old to handle before being shipped for slaughter or used in ‘canned’ hunting. It is a disgrace and should be stopped.” 

As The Guardian wrote about Rogue, “If hit Netflix documentary Tiger King had you championing the big cat cause, here’s the animal rights-respecting action-thriller you should watch next…” They called it “an energetic action thriller” where “the action rattles along”.

The award-winning South African crew includes South African Film and Television Award winners Brendan Barnes as director of photography; Waldemar Coetsee as production designer; and Theola Booyens as hair and makeup designer. 

The SA-UK film is a co-production between MultiChoice, Capstone and Mannequin, with Lionsgate Home Entertainment handling distribution in North America. No release date as been communicated yet but be rest assured that we will confirm as soon as it is.

Fox will share the screen with award-winning South African-born leading man Greg Kriek, who has more than 50 international screen credits to his name.  Sisanda Henna, who recently had African audiences raving about his role as the villain Inkuzi in M-Net’s hit series Trackers, also nabbed a part, while Brandon Auret (District 9, Chappie, Still Breathing) and Jessica Sutton (Kissing Booth, Fort Salem) are among the other well-known South African cast members.

“We are excited to be involved in this feature film project,” says Nkateko Mabaso, M-Net CEO. “It slots perfectly into M-Net’s mission to be Africa’s leading visual storyteller, and to support ventures that give our local talent the opportunity to enjoy worldwide exposure.”

Producer and Mannequin Exec Delon Bakker goes on to say: “I remember sitting behind the monitor on one of our first days, watching our Director of Photography, Brendan Barnes, frame up a scene with Brandon, Sisanda, Greg, Jessica, and Megan. As a South African, that was a really proud moment for me.”

Megan Fox portrays Samantha O’Hara, a powerful woman who leads a team of mercenaries in Africa on a mission to rescue a group of kidnapped schoolgirls. When their plan goes south, the mercenaries find themselves out of ammo and lost in the African bush, having to defend themselves against the kidnappers – and angry lions on a revenge killing mission.

Samantha’s team of mercenaries includes former British Royal Marine Mike Barasa (Greg Kriek);  rock-hard, cynical South African sergeant Elijah (Brandon Auret), a battle-hardened former member of the country’s special forces; and the one-time Kenyan/Masai Al Shabab fighter Pata (Sisanda Henna), who joins the mercenaries to exact revenge on those who murdered his daughter.

M-Net holds the rights to distribute Rogue to African audiences, and Capstone will finance and distribute the rest of the world. Rogue will hit the big screen in America  and South Africa in 2020, on a same day release.