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BREAKING: Universal Pictures is making a deal for Agent 13, a package shopped by WME that has Charlize Theron attached to star and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes helmer Rupert Wyatt attached to direct. I’m told the package drew bids from Paramount, MGM and Fox, but Universal won the day with a whopping deal. This comes off the studio’s multi-million acquisition of Fifty Shades of Grey. Script is by T.S. Nowlin. Theron is producing via her label Denver and Delilah. Sean Daniel and Jason Brown are producers for the Sean Daniel Company along with Union Entertainment.
All this will have to wait until Wyatt does a sequel to Apes, which is a high priority for Fox. The studio has an option on Wyatt’s services and he most assuredly is doing this next. Fox has been keen on this since the studio locked in Andy Serkis for a repeat at Caesar, the lead talking primate.
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I just read about “Package” from Richard Walter’s Essentials For Screenwriting in which he states that Packages are a front if the big budget movie fails the producer can blame the famed director or huge hollywood star that came with the package.
So teacher…i’m i right?
The producer put the package together so he or she is part of it they can’t blame the other elements when they assembled it. Only the studio executive can try to weasel out of taking the blame if said package flops but he or she bought the package and gave it a green light so they are most responsible for betting on it. They normally try to blame the marketing dept. if a big package flops and they often do. The goal is to minimize their risk and in this case Charlize is a better bet than Betty White would be.
And then the marketing department makes the poster a big close-up of the star’s face, so they can says, “Well it’s not our fault, and so couldn’t open the movie.” That’s use my theory.
Mike Esola does it again!
Esola is a complete clown. Plain and simple. The attention span of a gnat. And he was my agent until I let him go. Tired of calling him and hearing him typing and muting our call to talk to his assistant. And I went to UTA and have been working for 3 straight years.
He’s a joke. He has what, 78 clients? I know more Esola-repped writers than I can believe, and none of them are happy.
If you want to be one of 100 clients and when he throws you against the wall. Yes a few will stick but if you need a passionate, smart, thoughtful agent Esola is not for most. He won’t ever be more than a bottom feeder. Not to be trusted. A clock is right twice a day.
If you want to sell an action-thriller spec in a climate when no one else is selling specs, you can do no better than Esola.
If you want to build an actual career that requires a little attention and occasionally making out-of-the-box moves, you can do no worse.
Packages are pretty much the only route for a spec sale these days. Cast + Director + Script = sale, everything else walks.
Oh, please! When did a Theron headliner ever make any money? The list of flops is long. I don’t get the hype – she’s cold. People think that Hollywood is cruel, but in some instances – Theron, Nicole Kidman, when they give these actress one chance after after – it is in fact too kind.
@joshreader: interesting..at first i thought your comment was sort of nasty(which it is!) but not inaccurate; i just looked at her credits and you are right–U.S b.o is crap except when she’s co-starring (i.e. Hancock). but maybe you have to look at international b.o and non-theatrical revenue? She obviously is a ‘star’ in terms of her name recognition around the world. She’s also a very good actress and in this case Wyatt has a hot hand, which probably didn’t hurt.Happy for the writer though:)
Well put, joshreader.
Way to be negative. You do realize the only box office film she has headlined was Aeon Flux. That movie was destined to fail and every star has had a flop on his/her resume. The rest of the films she’s been in are not box office films, but smaller indie films not expected to heat up the box office. Unless you count Hancock which was a Will Smith film. She is in two big films this year which should raise her profile a bit among sci fi fans. Why not sign her up for another big sci fi film? People see her as promising now that she’s finally in the right vehicles. Every star building up their status has had someone take a chance on them.
Also you fail to realize that she won’t even be headlining this film. The lead is a male. She’s playing another role. Instead of a trashing an actress because of her box office worth, let’s celebrate a good talent getting promising work. What actor or actress is a consistent draw right now anyway? It’s the film that sells these days.
Well, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN ought to be a decent hit, and she’s at the very least the co-lead. justsayin is right, though, Theron pretty much has to be a co-lead with another a lister to ensure success. Still, she’s gorgeous and recognizable and you could do a lot worse than have her gussying up your picture.
An extra point to Fucking Studio Plant for correctly using “gussying up” in his comment.
@joshreader — Dude you need to a quarter to buy a fvcking clue. Theron is NOT headlining the movie. The lead role in this movie is male and has not been cast. Theron is the second lead or whatever you want to call it. Yeah it’s kinda weird to attach a star who’s not in the lead role but that’s what happened here
.
Theron is not headlining this movie.
Marvel comics might have something to say about this. They already have an Agent 13 who’s a major Captain America supporting character that they probably will want to use in the next movie. They don’t have to refer to her by that name, but they’re probably figuring they should be able to if they want to.
@Jeffmc2000: Marvel might or might not be unhappy but legally without recourse–you can’t copyright a title.
I’m not saying they’d be within their legal rights to stop it. But Marvel was pretty busy with the cease and desist orders even before they had Disney’s Hydra-like army of lawyers at their disposal.