Actress and director Sarah Wayne Callies is well known for her roles in The Walking Dead, Prison Break, and Colony. She was recently announced, along with Emmy Award-winning Anne Winters (13 Reasons Why), to star in a new thriller, Atlas King.
The film, directed by Nika Agiashvili (Daughter of the Wolf), marks the first production for UFC Middleweight champion turned actor Michael Bisping (Red Sonya) and Storyman Pictures' production and finance company, Punch It Films. Agiashvili is producing with John Edward Lee and George Finn from Storyman, with Giga Chikadze as associate producer. Bisping, who also stars, will be producing.
"Storytelling and fighting aren’t so different. Both are about conflict, struggle, and heart. With Punch It Films, we will be bringing that to the big screen."Michael Bisping
Bisping leads the cast as Atlas King and George Finn portrays his godson Tommy. Callies has been cast as Penelope and Winters as Colette. Additional cast members include Francois Chau, John Edward Lee, Eli Massillon, Bobby C. King, and Jake Ellenberger.
Described as a gritty thriller, Atlas King follows a hardened ex-fighter (Bisping in the titular role), who comes back to town after years in exile to bury his best friend and settle old debts. Reunited with his godson (Finn), a street-level enforcer tied to a criminal syndicate, the two forge an uneasy alliance and plot a high-stakes heist to escape the grip of a ruthless mob boss.
Atlas King will begin production in Downtown Los Angeles in summer 2025.
Sarah Wayne Callies - recent role and more
In 2023, Callies played Birdie Nocoletti in ABC's drama series The Company You Keep. Based on the South Korean series My Fellow Citizens!, the American version aired for one season. The story follows a con man, Charlie, who finds himself indepted to a crime boss. His life becomes even more complicated when he shares a night of passion with an undercover CIA agent, Emma. In addition to Callies the series stars Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim.
Callies has stepped behind the camera to direct in several notable series. The list includes Colony, Unspeakable, The Good Doctor, Family Law, Firefly Lane, Fire Country, and The Irrational.
Before landing the role as Lori Grimes on AMC's The Walking Dead, Callies starred in another excellent series. She portrayed Dr. Sara Tandreci in the Fox series Prison Break, which aired for five seasons. The series stars Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller as brothers, where one has been sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit, and the other plans his brother's escape from prison to clear his name. She also starred in the TV film, Prison Break: The Final Break, which aired before the release of the fifth and final season. She co-hosts the Prison Breaking podcast with series co-star, Paul Adelstein.
Next, she would be cast as Lori Grimes, wife of Rick (Andrew Lincoln), and mother of Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Judith (Cailey Fleming) in The Walking Dead. Love her or hate her, Lori's death was one of the most emotional of the entire eleven seasons. Callies played Lori
Callies starred alongside Josh Holloway in the USA Network dystopian sci-fi series Colony. The series is set in Los Angeles shortly after aliens have occupied the Earth and follows one family fighting for survival in a military-occupied city.
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