New Attachments
Alive and Kicking
Logline: This documentary follows a group of people who get inspired to make changes in their lives after getting involved in swing dancing.
Studio/Distributor(s): Magnolia Pictures
Production Company(s): Blumhouse Productions
Producer(s): Susan Glatzer
Writer(s): Susan Glatzer
Director(s): Susan Glatzer
SSN Insight: Magnolia Pictures acquired worldwide rights to the documentary with a plan to release this year.
Darkest Hour
Logline: In 1940, Prime Minister Churchill is pressured to make a deal with Hitler turning Britain into a puppet of the Third Reich, but his courage and immortal speeches lead Britain on to victory.
Production Company(s): Working Title Films
Producer(s): Anthony McCarten, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan
Writer(s): Anthony McCarten
Director(s): Joe Wright
Cast: Gary Oldman (in talks)
SSN Insight: Gary Oldman is in talks to play Winston Churchill.
Flatliners
Logline: Remake of the film about med students who help each other flatline so they can report about the afterlife.
Studio/Distributor(s): Columbia Pictures
Production Company(s): Laurence Mark Productions, Furthur Films
Producer(s): Laurence Mark, Michael Douglas, David Blackman
Writer(s): Ben Ripley
Director(s): Niels Arden Oplev
Cast: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev (in talks)
Details: Remake of “Flatliners” (1990) directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland.
SSN Insight: Dobrev is in production on Paramount’s XxX: The Return of Xander Cage recently wrapped indie comedy Crash Pad, and is attached to star in indie drama Arrivals.
I Want My MTV
Logline: The beginnings of MTV from an upstart channel to an influential and profitable business.
Production Company(s): A24, VisionChaos Productions
Producer(s): James Ponsoldt, Eva Maria Daniels
Writer(s): James Ponsoldt
Director(s): James Ponsoldt
Details: Based on the book: “I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution,” written by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum and published by Dutton on October 27, 2011.
SSN Insight: Project was previously in development at Mosaic and RatPac Entertainment with Brett Ratner and Jimmy Miller attached to produce, Brett Ratner attached to direct an adaptation written by Jody Lambert. Project was previously set up at Columbia Pictures.
Jacob’s Ladder
Logline: A modern-day re-imagining of the 1990 supernatural thriller “Jacob’s Ladder” that introduces new situations and characters, though it will pose similar existential questions regarding life, death, reality and perception.
Studio/Distributor(s): ,
Production Company(s): Gaeta Rosenzweig Films, LD Entertainment, Will Packer Productions
Producer(s): Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon, Michael Gaeta, Alison R Rosenzweig, Jennifer Hilton Monroe
Writer(s): Sarah Thorp, Jeff Buhler, Jake Wade Wall
Director(s): David M Rosenthal
Cast: Michael Ealy, Nicole Beharie, Jesse Williams
Details: Remake of “Jacob’s Ladder” (1990) directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Tim Robbins.
SSN Insight: An homage to the original film through a contemporary story. James Foley was previously in talks to direct.
Jurassic World 2
Logline: The adventures at the Jurassic World resort and theme park continue in this sequel.
Studio/Distributor(s): Universal Studios
Production Company(s): Kennedy/Marshall Company, Amblin Entertainment
Producer(s): Frank Marshall
Writer(s): Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly
Director(s): J. A. Bayona
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Details: Sequel to “Jurassic World” (2015) directed by Colin Tervorrow and starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
SSN Insight: Project is the 2nd installment of a planned trilogy. Bayona, directed The Impossible and The Orphanage and is currently shooting A Monster Calls.
Kolma
Logline: A young couple gets into a car accident where the man is killed. Fifty years later, the woman is about to join him in the afterlife.
Studio/Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures
Production Company(s): Bad Robot, Ram Bergman Productions
Producer(s): Ram Bergman, J.J. Abrams, David Lonner
Writer(s): Megan Holley, Rolin Jones, Karen Moncrieff, Sarah Polley
Director(s): Marielle Heller
Cast: Daisy Ridley
Details: Based on the television movie “All I’ve Got” (Israel/2003) directed by Margalit Keren.
SSN Insight: Sherryl Clark was previously attached to produce. Ron Howard was previously attached to direct.
My Mother (Mia Madre)
Logline: A filmmaker is struggling with the end of an affair, her teenage daughter and her hospitalized mother when a needy American actor arrives on the set, pushing her closer to the edge.
Studio/Distributor(s): Music Box Films
Production Company(s): Canal Plus, RAI Cinema, Fandango, ARTE, Cine Plus, Sacher Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Le Pacte, Films Boutique
Producer(s): Nanni Moretti, Domenico Procacci
Writer(s): Nanni Moretti, Francesco Piccolo, Valia Santella
Director(s): Nanni Moretti
Cast: Margherita Buy, John Turturro, Giulia Lazzarini, Nanni Moretti, Beatrice Mancini
SSN Insight: Music Box Films has acquired U.S. rights to the Italian comedy that Alchemy previously had snagged. The film will now be released during the third quarter.
Office Christmas Party
Logline: A hard-partying guy faces a CEO/sister who is trying to close his branch.In an attempt to rally his co-workers and save their jobs, he and his chief technical officer host an epic office Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client.
Studio/Distributor(s): Amblin Partners, Paramount Pictures
Production Company(s): Management 360, Bluegrass Films, Speck+Gordon
Producer(s): Scott Stuber, Guymon Casady, Daniel Rappaport
Writer(s): Laura Solon, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg, Dan Mazer, Timothy Dowling
Director(s): Will Speck, Josh Gordon
Cast: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, TJ Miller, Kate McKinnon, Abbey Lee, Sam Richardson, Vanessa Bayer
SSN Insight: Ed Helms was previously in talks to co-star.
Paternity Leave
Logline: Three immature friends team with a pregnant friend to pull off a hoax in order to get three months paternity leave.
Studio/Distributor(s): New Line Cinema
Production Company(s): Tapestry Films, Panay Films
Producer(s): Andrew Panay, Peter Abrams
Writer(s): Sam Pitman, Adam Cole-Kelly, David Diamond, David Weissman
Director(s): Todd Strauss-Schulson
Cast: Adam DeVine
SSN Insight: DeVine was recently seen in Pitch Perfect and The Intern.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Logline: Storyline is under wraps, but involves a teenage Peter Parker.
Studio/Distributor(s): Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Company(s): Marvel Entertainment, Pascal Pictures
Producer(s): Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal
Writer(s): John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Director(s): Jon Watts, John Mahaffie
Cast: Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya Coleman, Tony Revolori, Laura Harrier, Robert Downey Jr.
Details: Based on the legendary Marvel comic book, Spider-Man created by writer/editor Stan Lee and writer/artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 cover-dated August 1962.
SSN Insight: Drew Goddard was previously in talks to write and direct. Michael Keaton was previously in talks for a villian role. Downey will appear in this film, but its unclear how large his role will be at this time.
The Mummy
Logline: Storyline is under wraps, but the story reportedly is set in the present and is an action-adventure tentpole with horror elements.
Studio/Distributor(s): Universal Pictures
Production Company(s): The Sean Daniel Company, Chris Morgan Productions, Secret Hideout
Producer(s): Sean Daniel, Chris Morgan, Alex Kurtzman
Writer(s): Jon Spaihts, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Director(s): Alex Kurtzman
Cast: Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Jake M. Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Marwan Kenzari, Courtney B. Vance
Details: Reboot of the franchise that began with the film “The Mummy” (1932) directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff.
SSN Insight: Len Wiseman was attached to direct. Andy Muschetti was previously attached to direct.
Wonderstruck
Logline: Two children, each living in a different era, set out to solve a mystery.
Studio/Distributor(s): Amazon
Production Company(s): Killer Films, Cinetic Media, Amazon Studios, Killer Content
Producer(s): Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, John Sloss
Writer(s): Brian Selznick
Director(s): Todd Haynes
Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Jaden Michael, Millicent Simmonds
Details: Based on the children’s book “Wonderstruck” written by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic Press on September 13, 2011.
SSN Insight: Newcomer Simmonds is a deaf actress and she will appear among other deaf actors in roles that would normally go to hearing actors.
New Projects
Liminal
Logline: Storyline of the psychological thriller is under wraps.
Studio/Distributor(s): Fox 2000,
Production Company(s): Color Force
Producer(s): Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson
Writer(s): Christopher B Landon
Director(s): Christopher B Landon
SSN Insight: Landon is the writer-producer of four Paranormal Activity films in addition to penning Disturbia.
Osama’s Eleven
Logline: The film is based on a plot by the United States government to employ bank robbers to steal from al Qaeda post-9/11.
Production Company(s): Manage-ment, Whalerock Industries, Studio 8
Producer(s): Lloyd Braun, Andrew Mittman, Aaron Ensweiler, Dan Halsted, Nathan Miller
Writer(s): George Mastras
Details: Based on the article “The Possibly True Story Of The Super Burglar Trained To Rip Off Al Qaeda” written by Geoff Manaugh and published in The Daily Beast on April 9, 2016.
SSN Insight: Manaugh is currently on tour to support his newly released book, A Burglar’s Guide To The City.
Stuber
Logline: The film follows a Uber driver names Stu on one harrowing night.
Studio/Distributor(s): 20th Century Fox
Production Company(s): GoldDay
Producer(s): Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Writer(s): Tripper Clancy
SSN Insight: Goldstein and Daley are writing Spider-Man: Homecoming for Sony and are also producing All Day & Night for Relativity.
The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up
Logline: Firefighter Donny Herbert was in a vegetative state for many years after being injured in a burning building, woke up nine years later and spent the day with his family, but went back into the coma 15 hours later.
Studio/Distributor(s): Columbia Pictures
Production Company(s): Misher Films
Producer(s): Kevin Misher
Writer(s): Sean Macaulay
Details: Based on the book “The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up” written by Rich Blake and published by Harmony Books in 2007.
SSN Insight: Sean Macaulay also wrote Eddie the Eagle.
The Florida Project
Logline: A precocious 7-year-old and her rag-tag group of close friends experience a summer break filled with childhood wonder, possibility, and a sense of adventure, while their parents and the adults around them struggle with hard times.
Production Company(s): Cre Films, Freestyle Picture Company, June Pictures
Producer(s): Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Kevin Chinoy
Writer(s): Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
Director(s): Sean Baker
SSN Insight: June Pictures recently launched to finance and produce feature-length narrative and documentary films.
The Lovers
Logline: A relationship gone bitterly bad between Michael and Mary; both have lovers who want them to get out of their marriage. However, when the couple sits down to call it quits, they find themselves suddenly, unexpectedly and even awkwardly falling back in lov
Production Company(s): A24, COTA Films
Producer(s): Ben LeClair, Chris Stinson
Writer(s): Azazel Jacobs
Director(s): Azazel Jacobs
Cast: Debra Winger, Tracy Letts
SSN Insight: This is the second project A24 is fully financing after the coming-of-age film Moonlight that is currently in post-production.
The Rape of Recy Taylor
Logline: In 1944, African-American wife and mother Recy Taylor was gang raped by seven white men in Alabama and spoke out against her attackers, putting herself and her family in danger.
Production Company(s): HBO Documentary Films, Augusta Films, Transform Films
Producer(s): Nancy Buirski, Beth Hubbard
Director(s): Nancy Buirski
SSN Insight: Buirski is also behind the film, By Sidney Lumet that will be screened at Tribeca.
The Voyeur’s Motel
Logline: A businessman buys a motel so that he can secretly watch his guests have sex, but he ends up becoming witness to a murder. Based on a true story chronicled in an article and subsequent book by Gay Talese.
Studio/Distributor(s): Amblin Partners
Production Company(s): Neal Street Productions
Producer(s): Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes
Director(s): Sam Mendes
Details: Based on the article “The Voyeur’s Motel,” written by Gay Talese and published in the April 11, 2016 edition of The New Yorker. A book on the subject written by Talese is scheduled to be published by Grove Press on July 12, 2016.
SSN Insight: It is reportedly estimated Sam Mendes and DreamWorks acquired the rights in a deal valued at $1 million.