EXCLUSIVE: In a splashy Berlin sale, A24 has closed a deal for North American rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, the Jean-Stephane Sauvaire-directed action film that provides a breakout opportunity for Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole. The film is based on the true-life experience of Billy Moore, who survived his Thai prison ordeal by becoming a Muay Thai boxing champion. CAA and Hanway brokered the deal after it began showing promo footage Wednesday.

Here is the official logline: In Klong Prem, there are 10 rules. If you break them, you will almost certainly die. If you don’t break them, you will definitely die. This is the true story of Billy Moore — jailed in one of the world’s toughest prisons, Klong Prem, the notorious “Bangkok Hilton.” Refusing to die there, Billy becomes a student of the lethal art of Muay Thai Boxing and in the process finds a brotherhood that will help guide him on an incredible journey to redemption.

Shot in a real Thai prison and featuring hard-R action, the footage got a rousing reaction, and A24 didn’t wait to strike.

Producers are Rita Dagher, Nicholas Simon and Hurricane Films’ Sol Papdopoulos and Roy Boulter. Executive producers are Meridian Entertainment’s Jennifer Dong and Figo Li along with James Schamus. Meridian Entertainment financed the film through its production deal with Schamus’s Symbolic Exchange. The script was written by Jonathan Hirschbein, based on a prior draft by Nick Saltrese.