Sony Pictures Classics announced that they have agreed to fully-finance Redbelt, the next film by writer and director David Mamet (Screenwriter: Wag the Dog, The Verdict, and The Untouchables and Director: The Spanish Prisoner and State and Main). The company will also handle worldwide distribution for the film.

Redbelt is scheduled to begin production this May in Los Angeles with Mamet directing from his original script. Redbelt is an American samurai film, set in the west-side Los Angeles fight world. A world inhabited by bouncers, cage-fighters, cops, and special forces types - Redbelt is the story of Mike Terry, a Jiu- jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing to instead pursue a life of honor and education by operating a self-defense studio in Los Angeles. Terry's life is dramatically changed however when he is conned by a cabal of movie stars and promoters. In order to pay off his debts and regain his honor Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life.

Redbelt currently stars Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Melinda and Melinda, Dirty Pretty Things, and American Gangster).