New Attachments
12/24
Logline: Two brothers try to prove Santa Claus is real, but they accidentally cause his sleigh to crash and they have to save Christmas.
Production Company(s): 1492 Pictures, Madhouse Entertainment, Ocean Blue Entertainment, Zag Animation Studios
Producer(s): Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, Mark Radcliffe
Writer(s): Matt Lieberman
Details: Based on an original idea by David Guggenheim.
SSN Insight: The film will be in the found footage style. Family entertainment company ZAG is joining 1492 Pictures and Ocean Blue Entertainment to finance and produce the live-action/hybrid Christmas film.
Class Rank
Logline: Follows teenagers Bernard, who lives with his quirky grandfather Oswald, and Veronica, a type-A personality with Ivy League aspirations who aims to step out from under her TV Producer-mother’s shadow. When Veronica approaches Bernard to run for the Board of Education, he sees it as a chance to reform the local school system to enable him to better care for his grandfather. As their campaign progresses, the two discover the meaning of love and the importance of helping others.
Production Company(s): Single Cell Pictures, SSS Entertainment
Producer(s): Shaun S. Sanghani, Sandy Stern
Writer(s): Benjamin August
Director(s): Eric Stoltz
Cast: Olivia Holt, Bruce Dern, Kristin Chenoweth, Skyler Gisondo, Kathleen Chalfant
SSN Insight: Shaun Sanghani and SSS Entertainment recently wrapped on the James Franco-starrer King Cobra.
Freak Show
Logline: Cross-dressing teen Billy is a new student at an ultra-conservative high school who takes a stand for his individuality by running for Homecoming Queen.
Production Company(s): Flower Films, Maven Pictures
Producer(s): Trudie Styler, Charlotte Ubben, Celine Rattray, Chris Miller, Ember Truesdell
Writer(s): Beth Rigazio, P.J. Clifton
Director(s): Trudie Styler
Cast: Bette Midler, AnnaSophia Robb, Ian Nelson, Lorraine Toussaint, Alex Lawther, Abigail Breslin
Details: Based on the novel “Freak Show” written by James St. James and published by Dutton Children’s Books in 2007.
SSN Insight: Oscar nominated actress Breslin is currently appearing in Scream Queens and also just published a book, This May Sound Crazy.
How It Ends
Logline: In the midst of an apocalypse, a man struggles to reach his pregnant wife, who is thousands of miles away.
Production Company(s): Paul Schiff Productions, Sierra/Affinity
Producer(s): Paul Schiff, Tai Duncan
Writer(s): Brooks McLaren
Director(s): David M Rosenthal
SSN Insight: Project was included on the 2010 Black List. Breck Eisner was previously attached to direct.
Mission: Impossible 6
Logline: Storyline is under wraps.
Studio/Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures,
Production Company(s): Bad Robot, Skydance Productions
Producer(s): Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, J.J. Abrams, Don Granger
Writer(s): Christopher McQuarrie
Director(s): Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson
Details: Based on the Paramount Television series “Mission: Impossible,” which aired on CBS from 1966 to 1973 and was created by Bruce Geller. Fifth sequel to “Mission: Impossible” (1996), directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Cruise.
SSN Insight: McQuarrie has written and directed two of Tom Cruise’s films- Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and Jack Reacher and also wrote his Edge Of Tomorrow and Valkyrie.
Murder on the Orient Express
Logline: While his train is stopped by deep snow, famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is enlisted to solve the murder of a man who was killed in his car the night before.
Studio/Distributor(s): 20th Century Fox
Production Company(s): Ridley Scott Films , Mark Gordon Company, Acorn Productions, Genre Films
Producer(s): Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, Mark R. Gordon, Kenneth Branagh, Aditya Sood
Writer(s): Michael Green
Director(s): Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh
Details: Remake of “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974) directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman. The film was based on the book “Murder on the Orient Express” written by Agatha Christie and published by Collins in 1934.
SSN Insight: Jennifer Todd was previously attached to produce.
Opening Belle
Logline: A woman who is balancing a Wall Street career and motherhood in 2007 has to deal with the impending financial crisis while raising three children.
Studio/Distributor(s): Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Company(s): Pacific Standard
Producer(s): Reese Witherspoon, Bruna Papandrea
Writer(s): Matthew Aldrich
Cast: Reese Witherspoon
Details: Based on the novel “Opening Belle” written by Maureen Sherry Klinsky; published by Simon and Schuster February 2, 2016.
SSN Insight: Aldrich wrote two scripts that made the Black List scripts in back-to-back years with The Ballad Of Pablo Escobar and Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery And Eskimo Kisses.
The Bye Bye Man
Logline: Inspired by a series of events that occurred in Wisconsin in the 1990s, three college students play with a Ouija board and summon a spirit with a dangerous story.
Studio/Distributor(s): STX Entertainment
Production Company(s): Intrepid Pictures, Los Angeles Media Fund
Producer(s): Trevor Macy, Simon Horsman, Jeffrey Soros
Writer(s): Jonathan Penner, David Britten Prior
Director(s): Stacy Title
Cast: Douglas Smith, Cressida Bonas, Lucien Laviscount, Doug Jones, Carrie-Anne Moss, Faye Dunaway
Details: Based on the short story: “The Bridge to Body Island” from anthology “The President’s Vampire: Strange-but-True Tales of the United States of America”; published by Anomalist Books November 1, 2005.
SSN Insight: David Britten Prior was previously attached to write and direct. The deal with TWC-Dimension includes a proceed-to-production commitment.
The Gray Man
Logline: American operative Court Gentry, also known as the Gray Man, races against time and battles teams of government assassins in an effort to save his handler and his handler’s family.
Studio/Distributor(s): Columbia Pictures
Production Company(s): Denver & Delilah Films, Roth Kirschenbaum Films
Producer(s): Joe Roth, Charlize Theron, Beth Kono, A.J. Dix
Writer(s): Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Adam Cozad
Cast: Charlize Theron
Details: Based on the novel “The Gray Man” written by Mark Greaney and published by Jove on September 29, 2009.
SSN Insight: Writing duo Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse closed the deal to rewrite The Gray Man. Shine is producing through its overall deal with New Regency. Brad Pitt was previously mentioned to star.
The Stars My Destination
Logline: The story follows Gully Foyle, a merchant traveling through the Solar System who, after an attack by unknown forces, finds himself alternately stranded, abandoned to die by people working for the same company, then imprisoned when it comes out that unknown to him he was carrying a secret and highly valuable metal necessary for an ongoing war effort. Upon escape, he sets about settling scores as he learns who set him along that course, and why.
Studio/Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures
Production Company(s): Disruption Entertainment
Producer(s): Mary Parent
Writer(s): David DiGilio
Director(s): Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Details: Based on the novel “The Stars My Destination” written by Alfred Bester published by Berkley Books 1956.
SSN Insight: Betty Thomas previously attached to direct. Tall Trees and Jenno Topping previously attached to produce until the company dissolved in 2004.
White Knight
Logline: When a Secret Service agent’s relationship with his employer goes bad, he takes a job protecting the family of an arms dealer and ends up in the middle of a worldwide CIA manhunt.
Studio/Distributor(s): Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Company(s): Le Grisbi Productions
Producer(s): John Lesher, Mark Williams
Writer(s): Scott Cooper, Bill Dubuque
Director(s): Scott Cooper
SSN Insight: Cooper will rewrite the original script by Bill Dubuque. Cooper recently directed Black Mass and his other directing credits include Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace.
New Projects
Challenger Deep
Logline: The book tells the story about a 15-year-old boy afflicted with schizophrenia who imagines himself on a pirate ship voyaging through the Pacific Ocean.
Studio/Distributor(s): Studio, Domestic Theatrical Distributor
Production Company(s): Chernin Entertainment
Producer(s): Trevor Engelson, Neal Shusterman
Writer(s): Neal Shusterman
Details: Based on the YA novel of the same name written by Neal Shusterman and published by HarperCollins.
SSN Insight: Chernin Entertainment acquired the novel after a bidding battle. The novel just won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Featured in SSN Insider’s The Yallwest 2015 Hit List: 8 Available YA Titles (click to read here).
Ain’t No Half Steppin’
Logline: To get into the law school of her dreams, an ambitious black sorority girl agrees to teach the art of black Greek stepping to some wild, white sorority girls whose charter is about to be revoked.
Production Company(s): Broad Green Pictures
Producer(s): Matt Alvarez, Lena Waithe, Benjamin Cory Jones
Writer(s): Chuck Hayward
Director(s): Charles Stone III
SSN Insight: Producer Matt Alvarez recently boarded Broad Green’s development and production team in an exclusive deal.
Balanchine
Logline: The coming-of-age story of choreographer George Balanchine, who began his career during the Russian revolution and went on to revolutionize modern ballet.
Production Company(s): Gulfstream Pictures
Producer(s): Mike Karz, Bill Bindley
Writer(s): David K. Israel
Details: Based on the biography “Balanchine & the Lost Muse: Revolution & the Making of a Choreographer” written by Elizabeth Kendall and published by University Press in 2013.
SSN Insight: Israel formerly worked for Leonard Bernstein’s estate, serving to edit and publish West Side Story, among other Bernstein properties.
Barbie and Ruth
Logline: The story of Ruth Handler, who created the iconic Barbie doll in 1959 and changed the toy industry.
Production Company(s): Bold Films, Pacific Standard
Producer(s): Reese Witherspoon, Bruna Papandrea, Michel Litvak
Cast: Reese Witherspoon (in talks)
Details: Based on the book “Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her” written by Robin Gerber and published by Collins Business in 2009.
SSN Insight: The original Barbie premiered at the American International Toy Fair in 1959. Reese Witherspoon is in talks for the starring role of Barbie creator Ruth Handler.
Blame
Logline: When a substitute drama teacher at a suburban high school develops a taboo relationship with an unstable student, a jealous classmate tries to destroy her.
Producer(s): Quinn Shephard, Laurie Shephard, Larissa Rhodes
Writer(s): Quinn Shephard
Director(s): Quinn Shephard
Cast: Chris Messina, Tate Donovan, Nadia Alexander, Quinn Shephard, Trieste Dunn
SSN Insight: Shepherd will next be seen in the YA romantic drama Midnight Sun opposite Bella Thorne and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Evel Knievel On Tour
Logline: Daredevil Evel Knievel’s colorful life is depicted, including his infamous attempt at jumping Snake River Canyon.
Studio/Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures
Production Company(s): LBI Entertainment, Cold Front Productions
Producer(s): Terence Winter, Rachel Winter
Writer(s): William Monahan
Details: Based on the book “Evel Knivel on Tour” written by Sheldon Saltman and published by Dell in 1977.
SSN Insight: Scorsese is being eyed as a director but nothing is confirmed. Monahan and Scorsese both have deals at Paramount.
Hello Again
Logline: Ten lost souls are followed during ten periods in New York City history, falling in and out of relationships with each other.
Production Company(s): Martian Entertainment
Producer(s): Thomas Gustafson, Cory James Krueckeberg, Ash Christian, Hunter Arnold
Writer(s): Cory James Krueckeberg
Director(s): Thomas Gustafson
Cast: Tyler Blackburn, Jenna Ushkowitz, Audra McDonald, Martha Plimpton, T.R. Knight
Details: Based on the chamber musical “Hello Again” written by Michael John LaChiusa and originally produced by Lincoln Center Theatre in 1994. That play was inspired by the 1897 play “La Ronde: Hello Again” written by Arthur Schnitzler.
Project Delirium
Logline: The film revolves around experiments of “mental warfare” during the Cold War that went horribly wrong.
Production Company(s): 2929 Productions
Producer(s): Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi, Todd Wagner, Ben Cosgrove
Director(s): Jennifer Lawrence
Details: Based on the article “Operation Delirium” written by Raffi Khatchadourian and published in The New Yorker on December 17, 2012.
SSN Insight: Marks the feature directorial debut for Jennifer Lawrence. She will not be in the cast.
The Girl Before
Logline: A troubled woman who is infatuated with a house and its designer learns than another woman died there years earlier.
Studio/Distributor(s): Universal Pictures
Production Company(s): Imagine Entertainment, Michael De Luca Productions
Producer(s): Michael De Luca, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Erica Huggins
Director(s): Ron Howard
Details: Based on the novel “The Girl Before” written by J.P. Delaney; to be published by Ballantine Bantam Dell Random House fall 2016.
SSN Insight: Howard recently directed the upcoming In The Heart Of The Sea.
Uncanny Valley
Logline: In a dystopian future, poor people in a slum are exploited by virtual reality addicts, playing violent for a paltry wage while also serving as the workforce for real world wars.
Production Company(s): Ground Control
Producer(s): Scott Glassgold
Writer(s): Carter Blanchard
Details: Based on the short film “Uncanny Valley” (USA/2015) written and directed by Federico Heller.
SSN Insight: The feature adaptation of Uncanny Valley is planned as part of a unique multimedia production that will include VR experiences tied to the film’s release. Private screenings have included proof of concept demos of virtual reality segments inspired by the film via the Oculus Rift headset.