Kian Lawley Thriller 'The Chosen' to Premiere During VidCon

Jun 9th 2015
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

The YouTube star announced the July 24 premiere on his Instagram on Tuesday morning.

YouTube star Kian Lawley's first starring vehicle has a premiere date. 

Thriller The Chosen will debut to audiences on July 24 in Anaheim, Calif., during VidCon. 

Lawley, an actor and comedian who was formerly part of YouTube super group Our2ndLife, announced the premiere with an Instagram post on Tuesday morning that has already received nearly 180,000 likes and more than 11,000 comments.

The premiere will not be an official VidCon event but will take place near the three-day online video confab and will likely draw many of the more than 20,000 expected VidCon attendees. 

The film stars Lawley as Cameron, a 19-year-old who must defeat a demon named Lilith to save his niece. Elizabeth Keener (The L Word) and former Extra host Dayna Devon also star. Ben Jehoshua directed the film from an original screenplay  Barry Jay Stich and Andrew Scheppmann. Next-gen film studio Supergravity Pictures is producing the film in partnership with Sunrise Pictures' Terror Films.

Supergravity co-founder Max Benator tells The Hollywood Reporter that the premiere will feature a "black carpet" and will include interactive events and screenings for fans. The film will also become available online through VOD that evening.

Chosen is the first film produced by Supergravity, which Benator co-founded with Marc Hustvedt in late 2014. They have since announced plans for a cable industry documentary fromRay William Johnson and buddy comedy Man Up from Justin Chon and Kevin Wu

Benator and Hustvedt are executive producing Chosen alongside Peter Schafer. Terror's Joe Dain,Jim Klock and Miles Fineburg are producing. 

VidCon, which brings to together industry executives, creators and fans for a blend of panels, educational sessions, meet-and-greets and concerts, has become a popular event around which to schedule premieres of films starring YouTube creators. AwesomenessTV will premiere Smosh: The Movie in Anaheim on July 23, the night before VidCon begins.