The Tournament

The Tournament is a 2009 British independent thriller film, marking the directorial debut of local filmmaker Scott Mann. The film was conceived by Jonathan Frank and Nick Rowntree while at the University of Teesside with Mann. The script was written by Gary Young, Jonathan Frank, and Nick Rowntree. The Tournament was partially filmed in Bulgaria, and numerous locations around Northern England (where the film is set) and Merseyside. The film stars Robert Carlyle, Ving Rhames, Kelly Hu, Sébastien Foucan, Liam Cunningham, Scott Adkins, Camilla Power and Ian Somerhalder. The film received additional funding internationally, from Sherezade Film Development, Storitel Production and others, earning the film a budget of just under £4,000,000, and the film also features a renowned international ensemble cast. However, numerous problems involving production, finance (the budget ran out twice), and securing a distributor, meant the film was not released until two years after filming, in late 2009.