Saban Films announced today that it has acquired the North American distribution rights to the action thriller TRACERS starring Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga, Abduction) and Marie Avgeropoulos (50/50, The CW’s The 100).
TRACERS reteams Lautner with Twilight producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment who are producing alongside D. Scott Lumpkin.
The fast-paced action thriller follows New York City bicycle messenger, Cam (Lautner) who is the hottest thing on two wheels, but is in debt to an organized crime gang. When he crashes his bike into a sexy stranger, Nikki (Avgeropoulos), Cam is immediately seduced by her and the thrill of the high-stakes world of parkour.
Saban Films, launched just prior to Cannes, acquired THE HOMESMAN, starring Academy Award winners Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank. The film had its world premiere in competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and Saban Films will release stateside with Roadside Attractions on November 7th.
Lionsgate and Saban have announced that the POWER RANGERS movie will open on July 22, 2016.
From a story by Executive Producer Roberto Orci (TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2) and screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, THOR) comes a modern reinvention of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of ordinary high school kids who find themselves infused with extraterrestrial powers and must harness those powers as a team to save the world.
Saban’s Power Rangers franchise is the brainchild of Haim Saban, creator and producer of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers hit series that launched in 1993. Following its introduction, Power Rangers quickly became the most-watched children’s television program in the United States and remains one of the top-rated and longest running boys live-action series in television history. The series follows the adventures of a group of ordinary teens who “morph” into superheroes and save the world from evil.
It has subsequently grown into one of the world’s most popular and recognizable brands, with toys, apparel, costumes, video games, DVD’s, comic books and other merchandise.
Haim Saban announced today that after launching Saban Films last week the company has acquired North American distribution rights to Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones’ THE HOMESMAN, starring Jones and Academy Award winner Hilary Swank, with a supporting cast featuring Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter, Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld, James Spader and Academy Award winner Meryl Streep.
The story centers around a claim jumper and a pioneer woman who team up to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa.
In his Cannes review, Todd McCarthy’s (THR) writes: “In what’s probably her best big screen role since Million Dollar Baby, Swank is obliged to keep Mary Bee’s emotions in tight check, but the pain her valiant character bottles up emerges in piercing flashes to lasting effect. Jones’ scalawag is a man on the run from everything he’s ever done in his life, and director guides himself to a performance that is mildly amusing and glancingly poignant by turns.”
Living in Cinema’s Craig Kennedy says: “Swank and Jones are both terrific. The show belongs entirely to Swank at first, but she slowly makes way for Jones who can steal a scene with a simple glance. Even after Jones takes the reigns however, Swank’s deeply felt personification lingers and continues to shape the story. They make an unexpectedly great team.”
The new venture, which is headed by President Bill Bromiley, came to Cannes with an aggressive acquisitions strategy and targeted the highly-regarded competition title, finalizing negotiations with majority owner of the North American rights, Brian Kennedy. EuropaCorp is the international distributor of the picture. This is the first acquisition for Saban Films and the second collaboration between Bromiley, Tommy Lee Jones and Michael Fitzgerald following 2008’s In the Electric Mist.
THE HOMESMAN, which premiered Sunday, May 18th in competition in Cannes, is a Tommy Lee Jones/Michael Fitzgerald production, directed by Tommy Lee Jones and produced by Peter Brant, Brian Kennedy and Luc Besson. The screenplay was written by Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald and Wesley A. Oliver, based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout.
Saban Films is planning a 2014 theatrical release.
Tommy Lee Jones said: “I am delighted that Saban Films has chosen ‘The Homesman’ to begin their venture into film release. Our company has full confidence in Saban Films and I sincerely hope we will serve them well.”
Representing the film in the sale to Saban Films was CAA and Scott Edel of Loeb & Loeb. Bill Bromiley, Ness Saban and Niveen Tadros, EVP & General Counsel, negotiated the acquisition on behalf of Saban Films.
