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Sony Doing Two More ‘Spider-Man’ Movies, Sets Dates For 2016 And 2018

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday June 17, 2013 @ 12:10pm PDTTags: Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, The Amazing Spider-Man

Columbia‘s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is already underway for a May 2, 2014 premiere with the original cast intact including Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. Now the studio has set two more pics in “our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise”, Sony Worldwide Marketing and Distribution boss Jeff Blake said today. It’s still not clear who of the main cast and crew are locked in for future installments. Here’s Sony‘s release announcing the flag-planting of the dates:

CULVER CITY, Calif., June 17, 2013 – With Sony Pictures Entertainment now in production in New York on The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2, slated for release on May 2, 2014, the studio is planting its flag on two future release dates for one of the most successful franchises in studio history, it was announced today by Jeff Blake, Chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures. The next two films in the story of Peter Parker will be released on June 10, 2016, and on May 4, 2018, respectively.

Commenting on the announcement, Blake said, “Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner, with a previous draft by James Vanderbilt, and based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are the producers. The executive producers are E. Bennett Walsh, Stan Lee, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci.

The Amazing Spider-Man took in over $750 million at the worldwide box office last year.

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Haley Bennett Joins Sony’s ‘The Equalizer’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday June 13, 2013 @ 4:35pm PDTTags: Haley Bennett, Sony Pictures, The Equalizer

EXCLUSIVE: Haley Bennett is continuing with her busy schedule, signing on for a role in Sony‘s redo of The Equalizer. Denzel Washington stars alongside Chloe Moretz and Melissa Leo, and Antoine Fuqua is directing. Bennett, whose earlier credits include The Haunting Of Molly Hartley and Marley & Me, has completed a string of movies in the past year including the untitled Terence Malick film opposite Christian Bale; the psychological thriller Kristy for the Weinstein Company; and Things People Do co-starring Wes Bentley. Read More »

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‘Smurfs 2′ Scoops $150M Global Tie-Ins For Hollywood’s Unexpected Blue Blockbuster

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday June 13, 2013 @ 1:49pm PDTTags: Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures, The Smurfs 2

Sony Pictures Entertainment‘s Consumer Marketing EVP George Leon announced today it has lined up one of the Smurfs 2 Marketing Spend Sonystudio’s largest ever worldwide promotional campaigns to support the July 31st launch of The Smurfs 2. Studio sources tell me the hotly anticipated sequel has $150 million being put up by these tie-ins with 100 corporation and licensee and retail global partners — from McDonald’s to Wal-Mart to Toys R Us to even blueberries. That’s huge dealmaking for Sony Animation family fare that’s not Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks branded. This 3D hybrid live-action/CG animated global pic was able to build on the success of  2011′s The Smurfs which took in $563 million at the worldwide box office. Many key promotional partners returning from the first film and the second film more than doubling the total number of promotional partners and tripling the total promotional value and marketing support for The Smurfs 2. The hook is to give consumers the ability to ‘live’ the Smurfs brand.

Hollywood never expected The Smurfs to become such a box office phenom. Even though the studio always had confidence in the franchise — and now The Smurfs 3 already is scheduled for 2015. Sure, it’s easy to look down your nose at The Smurfs, but it was taken out of turnaround from Paramount by then Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman/CEO Michael Lynton, now the Sony America bigwig. Here’s more from today’s overly long announcement: Read More »

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Sandra Bullock Might Do ‘Annie’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 12, 2013 @ 3:36pm PDTTags: Annie, Sandra Bullock, Sony Pictures
Mike Fleming

Sandra Bullock, after passing on Annie last month, is back at the table and might play Miss Hannigan opposite Jamie Foxx and Beasts Of The Southern Wild‘s Quvenzhane Wallis for Sony Pictures. We all chased this … Read More »

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Andrew Davis Named President Of Production Administration At Columbia Pics

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 12, 2013 @ 12:18pm PDTTags: Andrew Davis, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Sony has finally found its replacement for Gary Martin, who stepped down in January from his longtime dual posts as President, Production Administration, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group and President, Sony Pictures Studios Operations. (Sony even renamed the studio’s Stage 15 as “The Gary Martin Sound Stage”.) Veteran producer Andrew Z. Davis has been tapped as President of Production Administration for Columbia Pictures, where he will supervise all aspects of physical production including postproduction and visual effects for all Columbia films as well as live-action portions of films from Sony Pictures Animation. He will work with President of Worldwide Business Affairs and Operations Andrew Gumpert, President of Production Hannah Minghella and Sony Pictures Digital Productions President Bob Osher and report to Columbia president Doug Belgrad. Read More »

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DONE DEAL: Dan Harmon & Chris McKenna To Return To ‘Community’ For Season 5

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday June 10, 2013 @ 10:31am PDTTags: Chris McKenna, Community, Dan Harmon, Sony Pictures
Nellie Andreeva

After several weeks of negotiations, Community producer Sony Pictures TV just confirmed that there are deals in place for series creator/former showrunner Dan … Read More »

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Sony, ‘Fast 6′ Producer Neal Moritz Remake French Crime Pic ‘A Prophet’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 5, 2013 @ 11:27am PDTTags: A Prophet, Neal Moritz, Original Film, Sony Pictures
Mike Fleming

Sony Pictures and producer Neil Moritz have optioned remake rights to A Prophet, the French film released in the US in 2010. Moritz and Toby Jaffe are producing through the Original Film banner. The Jacques Audiard-directed … Read More »

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‘Justified’s David Meunier Joins ‘The Equalizer’

By JEN YAMATO | Monday June 3, 2013 @ 2:57pm PDTTags: Antoine Fuqua, David Meunier, Sony Pictures, The Equalizer

EXCLUSIVE: David Meunier (Justified, Revolution) has been cast alongside Denzel Washington, Melissa Leo, and Chloe Moretz in Antoine Fuqua‘s The Equalizer. He’ll play Slavi, a brutal and sleazy Russian pimp involved with Teri, … Read More »

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Melissa Leo Joining Denzel Washington In ‘The Equalizer’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 30, 2013 @ 3:33pm PDTTags: Denzel Washington, Melissa Leo, Sony Pictures, The Equalizer
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Melissa Leo is negotiating to join Denzel Washington in the Antoine Fuqua-directed The Equalizer for Sony Pictures. The film, based on the ’80s CBS TV series, is being produced by Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch. Leo, who won an Oscar for The Fighter, reunites with Fuqua, who directed her in Olympus Has Fallen. Washington plays McCall, a retired covert operative who, seeking redemption for his dark deeds, quits a CIA-like agency and puts an ad in the paper that reads simply: “Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer.” Leo will play McCall’s former handler when he worked counter-terrorism. She provides him with intelligence about who he is facing when he runs up against a new adversary. The film begins production mid-June in Boston. Read More »

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‘King Of The Hill’ And ‘Simpsons’ Writer Jon Vitti To Pen ‘Angry Birds’ Script

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 11:06am PDTTags: Angry Birds, Jon Vitti, Rovio Entertainment, Sony Pictures

Jon Vitti, a veteran writer of The Simpsons, King Of The Hill, The Office, and The Larry Sanders Show, will write the screenplay for Angry Birds, the new animated 3D film based on Rovio Entertainment’s game app. Veteran producer Catherine Winder is also joining as a producer alongside John Cohen and executive producer David Maisel. The Sony movie is set for a July 1, 2016 release.

Related: Sony Takes Worldwide Rights To Angry Birds Movie

Vitti won an Emmy as a writer/consulting producer on King Of The Hill. His credits include writing for Saturday Night Live, writer-producer on The Simpsons, writer/co-executive producer on The Larry Sanders Show, and writer/consulting producer on The Office. On the feature film side he shared writing credits on The Simpsons Movie and Alvin And The Chipmunks. Read More »

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Sony Takes Worldwide Rights To Angry Birds Movie, Will Release It In 2016

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 10:06am PDTTags: Angry Birds, Sony Pictures

Rovio announced feature-film plans for its money-printing game back in December, tapping Despicable Me producer John Cohen as producer. Former Marvel Studios boss David Maisel, who came aboard the gamemaker as a special adviser in June 2011, is now an exec producer on the movie, which Sony Pictures has now landed. The Angry Birds assault includes a 52-episode animated TV series that rolled out worldwide in March. The 3D pic will be the first for Rovio Entertainment, which is producing it in-house. Here’s the official release:

CULVER CITY, Calif., May 15, 2013 – Sony Pictures Entertainment has won the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the eagerly anticipated Angry Birds animated film, making it one of the most high-profile deals of the year. The 3D film is being developed, produced, and financed by Rovio Entertainment and will be released worldwide by Sony Pictures on July 1, 2016. Several major studios pursued the global film rights in recent weeks, with Sony Pictures Entertainment emerging as the winner.

Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal, Co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment jointly announced their partnership today. John Cohen and David Maisel – producer of Despicable Me and executive producer of Iron Man, respectively – are both on board for the new Angry Birds feature film. Cohen will serve as producer and Maisel is executive producer.

Read More »

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Shorter ‘Django Unchained’ Flops In Return To Chinese Theaters

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 13, 2013 @ 8:14am PDTTags: Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino, Sony Pictures

Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained re-opened yesterday in China to disappointing numbers after it was yanked suddenly from the country’s theaters last month. Some “minor changes” were made, according to Shanghai’s UME Cineplex. The re-do reportedly is three minutes shorter, … Read More »

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Hot Trailer: Tom Hanks In ‘Captain Phillips’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 8, 2013 @ 12:29pm PDTTags: Captain Phillips, Sony Pictures, Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks stars as the titular Captain Phillips in Paul Greengrass’ film based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of an American cargo ship. Catherine Keener and Max Martini also appear in the Scott Rudin/Michael De Luca/Trigger … Read More »

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Is Sony’s ‘Doc Savage’ Next For ‘Iron Man 3′ Helmer Shane Black?

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 7, 2013 @ 12:58pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Doc Savage, Shane Black, Sony Pictures

BREAKING: Sony has just closed a deal with Shane Black to co-write and direct Doc Savage, a movie based on the 1930s and ’40s pulp novel hero. He co-wrote the screenplay with Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, and Columbia Pictures says he’s eyeing it as his next project. Neal H. Moritz is producing the project with Ori Marmur through his Original Film banner. Michael Uslan will also be a producer. “We couldn’t be more excited to be building a franchise from the ground up with Shane and this team”, said Columbia production president Hannah Hannah Minghella, who made the announcement today with Columbia president Doug Belgrad. “Shane and Neal have a fantastic understanding of the character and a great take on the material and we can’t wait to get this production up and running.”

Doc Savage was a multiplatformer even back in the day, popularized on radio, film and TV. He was a scientist, physician, adventurer, inventor, explorer and researcher with outstanding strength, a photographic memory, and vast knowledge and intelligence. He uses those skills and powers to fight evil. Read More »

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Hot Trailer: Channing Tatum’s Action Thriller ‘White House Down’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 2, 2013 @ 4:43pm PDTTags: Channing Tatum, Sony Pictures, White House Down

The second trailer has dropped for White House Down, the Channing Tatum-starrer about a Capitol cop at the White House with his daughter who gets caught up in an paramilitary invasion. Roland Emmerich directs James Vanderbilt’s script, and Jamie Foxx, Jason Clarke and Maggie Gyllenhaal co-star. Sony will … Read More »

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Logan Lerman Shares A Tank With Brad Pitt

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday May 1, 2013 @ 3:37pm PDTTags: Brad Pitt, Fury, Logan Lerman, QED, Sony Pictures
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Logan Lerman is joining Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf in Fury, the WWII tank thriller that David Ayer wrote and is directing for QED and Sony Pictures. Lerman will play Norman Ellison, an Army typist and the youngest and most inexperienced member of the crew who is thrust into being a tank gunner.

Sony Pictures won the right to distribute domestically and in most of the world, with some territories belonging to QED, whose Bill Block took a big risk by paying $1 million for Ayer’s spec, and then watched it pay off quickly when Pitt committed to the $80 million film. QED will produce with John Lesher and his Le Grisbi Productions banner. Ethan Smith, Block and Lesher are producing and they are eyeing a fall production start. The action takes place in 1945 as the Nazi regime collapses and the five-man crew of an American tank called Fury battles a desperate German army. Read More »

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UPDATE: ‘Django Unchained’ Re-Debuts In China May 12

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday April 26, 2013 @ 10:49am PDTTags: China, Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino, Sony Pictures

UPDATE, 10:49 AM: Sony Pictures just announced that China is going to give Django Unchained another bow in theaters. This time, maybe it’ll even screen all the way through. The studio releasing the Quentin Tarantino actioner about race relations issued this announcement this morning: “We are delighted that audiences throughout China will be able to experience Django Unchained beginning Sunday, May 12th. There is tremendous excitement, anticipation and awareness for the film and we thank the local authorities for quickly resolving this issue.” On April 11, Django was booked into theaters around China only to be pulled within minutes into screenings without an official explanation. It has taken Sony and Chinese officials all this time to complete negotiations. Read More »

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Mark Sony Down For A Killer 2014 Summer

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday April 26, 2013 @ 9:26am PDTTags: Sex Tape, Sony Pictures, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Think Like A Man Too
Mike Fleming

Sony Pictures has added a title and shifted a few movies for the summer of 2014. Joining The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which opens May 2, Sony is betting heavily on raunchy comedies. The studio has dated 21 … Read More »

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Sony Pictures Acquires Publishing Phenomenon ‘The Rosie Project’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday April 25, 2013 @ 1:55pm PDTTags: Graeme Simsion, Matt Tolmach, Michael Costigan, Sony Pictures, The Rosie Project
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures has optioned screen rights to The Rosie Project, the global breakout novel by Australian writer Graeme Simsion. The film will be produced by Sony-based Matt Tolmach and Michael Costigan, both of whom were longtime colleagues as Sony execs and get to work together again for the first time as producers. The deal was closed by Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad and production president Hannah Minghella. The author will write the script. Simon & Schuster will publish in the U.S. in October.

The Rosie Project centers on Don Tillman, a professor of genetics who may suffer from Aspergers and has never been on a second date until he embarks upon The Wife Project, designing a questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner: a punctual, non-drinking, non-smoking female who will fit in with his regimented lifestyle. When the unorthodox and free-spirited Rosie appears on the scene, it is clear that she fits none of his selection criteria, but she still may just be the perfect match to help turn his life around. Read More »

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