LOS ANGELES — WWE Studios and Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate company, have announced a partnership to co-produce and co-finance a slate of films, starting with the gritty action thriller, "Brother’s Blood." Trey Songz ("Baggage Claim," "Texas Chainsaw 3D") is set to star and John Pogue ("The Quiet Ones") will direct the film, which is written by Michael Finch ("Hitman: Agent 47," "The November Man"), Karl Gajdusek ("Oblivion," "Trespass") and Charles Murray ("Sons of Anarchy," "Castle," "Criminal Minds"). 

"Brother’s Blood" takes place on the mean streets of a city in decay, where a recently released convict begins to take murderous revenge against his childhood friends, whom he believes let him take the fall for a crime they collectively committed. As the bodies start piling up, one of the friends, now a cop, will stop at nothing to put an end to the murderous rampage and to right the many wrongs of their tragically violent past.

"We look forward to working with Codeblack and expanding our tremendous relationship with Lionsgate," said Michael Luisi, President of WWE Studios. "John Pogue and Trey Songz are exceptionally talented artists and the ideal creative team to shepherd our first co-production with Codeblack."

Jeff Clanagan, President of Codeblack Films added, "We are excited to collaborate with WWE Studios on the production of this slate. Our stellar cast and the strategic alignment of our brands and marketing expertise set a strong foundation for success."

Codeblack Films and WWE will collaborate on the marketing of the films under the slate. WWE Studios will leverage WWE’s extensive platforms from weekly TV shows, including WWE’s flagship programs, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown, digital, social media and WWE Network, to market the three titles.