Sci-Fi Thriller Overstake Secures AI Rebuild Deal, Lands Cappu Films Boarding at Busan Market
Hong Kong’s Cappu Films has signed on as worldwide sales agent for “Overstake,” a sci-fi action thriller from writer-director Stas Mareev that pairs a live-action shoot with settings being rebuilt through generative AI.…
Source: Variety · October 11, 2026 at 7:01 AM · AI-assisted report
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BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL’S ASIAN CONTENTS & FILM MARKET, 11 OCTOBER 2026 —
Hong Kong-based sales agent Cappu Films has acquired worldwide sales rights for “Overstake,” a sci-fi action thriller from writer-director Stas Mareev that pairs live-action footage with backgrounds rebuilt using generative artificial intelligence.
Market Impact
The company is introducing the title to buyers at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market. Because the generative artificial intelligence work is currently in progress, prospective buyers in Busan will be shown a promotional reel alongside a selection of completed sequences.
In the film, a wounded military veteran enters a high-stakes betting game for a life-changing financial payout. The protagonist is given two hours to traverse an industrial city and keep his ex-wife alive, while members of the public receive offers on their mobile phones to either aid his journey or stop him in his tracks as the contest organizers turn the pair’s fight for survival into an entertainment spectacle.
The cast features Konstantin Adaev, Vika Tokareva, Oleg Chernov, Konstantin Sidikhin, Denis Starkov and Sergey Russkin.
Mareev said the project offered him a pathway to re-engineer an existing work through new visual technology. “Overstake” is a chance to return to a film he already directed and rebuild its world at an unprecedented scale, Mareev said, noting that while the performances and story remain the foundation, generative artificial intelligence allows him to rethink the environments, action and visual language without losing the human core of the film.
Cappu Films represented the title as a natural fit for its international sales catalogue across Asian and global territories. Janice Woo of Cappu Films said the company has handled international sales for multiple titles in the genre, identifying sci-fi and action as particular strengths for the agency, and noted that Cappu was impressed by Mareev’s promotional footage ahead of meetings with distribution partners in Busan.
Cappu’s broader sales roster at the Busan market includes the titles “Banr” and “Fox Hunt”; Shan Jiang’s Tribeca film festival selection “Ephemera”; the nine-episode World War II espionage series “Operation Doolittle”; and the martial arts production “Lion Fist.” The company is also shopping Australian filmmaker Joy Hopwood’s dramedy “Her Last Laugh,” as well as “Zombie Plane,” an action comedy starring Vanilla Ice, Sophie Monk and Chuck Norris.
Related: Cappu Films · Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market