One of the more chilling self-funded indies in recent memory now has an ideal distributor to get it in front of a real audience.
Todd Wiseman Jr.s”The school duel” tells the story of a near-future Florida where school shootings are so common, the AR-15 governor (Oscar Nuñez) has ordered competitions to the death to be organized to pit troubled or at-risk students against each other. The idea is that these fights to the death will weed out potential future mass shooters.
Lawrence cookies delivers a fierce performance for the ages as Samuel Miller, a seventh-grader recruited by a shady mentor (Michael Sean Tighe) to compete in the bloody competitions. Christina Brucato plays Sam’s troubled mother, Beth.
IndieWire is excited to exclusively announce that Altered Innocence has picked up “The School Duel” for North American distribution, with a theatrical release slated for spring 2026. This is a film designed to inspire obsession, and Altered Innocence, which has led to the releases of Vera Drew’s “The People’s Joker” (one of IndieWire Critics Survey’s Top 50 Movies of 2024), along with Chile’s Oscar entry “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” Alexis Langlois’ “Queens of Drama,” and the 4K re-release of Frank Ripploh’s “Taxi zum Klo” is well positioned to fuel that obsession. Look at teaser for “School Duel” below:
“The People’s Joker” garnered a large cult following (here’s our Toolkit interview with director Vera Drew), and it’s easy to see how “School Duel” could inspire the same. It debuted at the 2024 Deauville American Film Festival, and I was on the jury that awarded it Best Film at the 2025 Sunscreen Film Festival after a rhapsodic reception at the Miami Film Festival. It later starred Fantasia, although you’d be better off thinking this is a Scorsese-esque character study (driven by the extraordinary Lawrence, who plays Sam as a 14-year-old Travis Bickle) than pure genre. It’s much more emotional and certainly about a grounded reality for a set that invokes “The Hunger Games” or “Battle Royale” — what if those movies explored the full emotional depth of their concepts? The “School Duel” does.
“We are thrilled to bring ‘The School Duel’ to North American audiences,” said Frank Jaffe, founder of Altered Innocence. “Todd has created something bold and fearless – a film that shocks and moves you in equal measure. Fans of films like ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Battle Royale’ finally have something else to feast on!”
Actor Tim Blake Nelson, who has now come on board as an presenting executive producer, said: “Todd’s film has the best of what indie cinema has to offer: a story of and for our moment with a strong and uncompromising point of view that is fully realized. I’m proud to be associated with it.” The film was produced by Christa Boarini, Bryan Gaynor, Bobby Marinelli and Wiseman.
AMP will handle international sales in the upcoming US film market. Wiseman’s next project is indie TV: A series adaptation of Patrick D. Smith’s 1984 novel, “A Land Remembered.”
