Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to an upcoming live-action film based on Black Mask Studios’ teen graphic novel 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank. 

Miramax has also come on board as a producer and financing partner, joining Picturestart, Point Grey Pictures and Black Mask. The pic’s international distributor, FilmNation Entertainment, helped broker these deals after launching its sales effort during TIFF in September. 

Comic book writer Matthew Rosenberg and cartoonist Tyler Boss first published their five-issue 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank series in 2016 under the Black Mask Comics imprint. The comedy-driven premise kicks off when a tween girl named Paige witnesses a group of criminals trying to enlist her grandfather (a former bank robber) to rejoin their gang for one last heist. Determined to not let her grandpa put his law-abiding retired life in jeopardy, she recruits her three best friends to pull off the job first and repay his debts. 

Picturestart acquired the rights to adapt Black Mask’s graphic novel for the big screen in 2020 and has since recruited actor Frankie Shaw to make her directorial debut and Liam Neeson to star as Paige’s grandad. Filming began last week in Ireland.