Ashens and the Polybius Heist

We are excited to announce the forthcoming release of comedy heist film Ashens and the Polybius Heist, a hilarious thrill-ride centred around retrieving an infamous 80s arcade game that can supposedly control people’s minds.

Polybius Heist stars some of the most famous people you’ve probably never heard of, with Stuart Ashen (1.5 million online followers) featuring alongside Sunday Times best-selling author Daniel Hardcastle (2.5 million followers) and Stuart Barter (3.5 million followers) amongst many other huge names in the online world. They join forces with legendary actor Robert Llewellyn (Red Dwarf’s Kryten) and a slew of up and coming comedians to bring together a passion project seven years in the making. As lead actor and co-writer Stuart Ashen says, “filmmaking is bloody hard at the best of times, but completing a film this ambitious in the midst of lockdown has been the challenge of a lifetime. It has taken a herculean effort from the whole team to finish off this fun, feel-good story that’s the perfect tonic for the times we’re all living through.’’

Every gamer and sci-fi fan knows the Polybius legend, with rumours swirling of hallucinations and fatal side effects amongst its players until the game suddenly vanished from arcades in 1981, never to be seen again. Given the myth’s longevity, and the breakout success of 2013’s Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild, it is unsurprising Relentless Films were able to crowdfund £150,000 towards the film’s budget in 2018, demonstrating the huge interest in the project. As director Riyad Barmania says: “the fans’ passion for this film has been incredible. I’ve never worked on something with so much excitement and support from the audience, I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

Shot on an Arri Alexa with post-production services from The Farm and Technicolor, Polybius Heist brings a big budget ethos to a home-made story. The film is a veritable love letter to geeks and anyone who has ever felt like an outsider: a film made by nerds, for nerds.

Gear up and synchronise watches, Ashens and the Polybius Heist premieres On Demand on 19th November 2020 via Relentless Films.

Originally intended for a full cinema run, due to lockdown closures the film will now premiere On Demand November 19th.