Global Courant 2023-04-19 04:15:05
EXCLUSIVE: Following an intense multi-studio bidding war that went into the weekend, Warner Bros. has landed the Maude v Maude package that has Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry attached to star. Roseanne Liang is on board to direct from Scott Mosier’s script. Berry and Jolie will produce along with Berry’s producing partner Holly Jeter, producing through their banner HalleHolly, along with Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth who will produce through RK Films. Mosier and Liang will produce.
Exact details are being kept under wraps but the insider describes it as a ‘Bond vs. Bourne’ type of action thriller.
While Berry Jolie has had careers that have spanned three decades, the two had never worked together prior to this package. While the film marks the first time the two have worked together, Jolie and Berry are both veterans of the genre. Jolie starred as the title character in the hit action thriller Salt and Berry starred as ‘Jinx’ in the blockbuster Bond installment Die Another Day. Other action heavy credits include Berry starring in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and the X-Men movies Jolie’s credits starring in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Maleficent, as well as originating the role of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
The package hit the market last week and wrapped over the weekend with Warner Bros. getting aggressive and putting in the winning bid. Since taking over as co-studio heads, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy having been pushing to get more movie star centric packages into their future slate and once this package with two of the bigger stars in the last two decades came together, it became too hard to pass up and put in an impressive 8 figure bid you haven’t been seeing from the studios as often especially with the endless amounts of money the streamers seem to have.
While its become more common for streamers like Apple or Netflix to make aggressive plays for packages like this, De Luca and Abdy have never shied away from going after a project hard if they believe in the talent around it. Back when the two were running MGM, De Luca and Abdy were two of the more active buyers in the market outbidding the competition for similar hot packages like Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver and the Ryan Gosling fronted Project Hail Mary and this latest sale shows they aren’t changing that strategy any time soon.
Berry and Jeter joined forces in January 2022 when the two formed the HalleHolly banner with plans to a wide array of projects from hard-hitting dramas to light-hearted comedies, action, horror, and more with a focus on elevating complex, strong, women and women of color in leading roles both in front of and behind the camera. Berry is currently filming the Lionsgate pic Never Let Go with her and Jeter exec producing. Alex Aja is directing the pic with 21 Laps producing.
As for Jolie, the Oscar-winner continues to stay busy especially on the director front where she recently directed Without Blood starring Demian Bichir and Salma Hayek. She was also recently seen in Marvel’s Eternals.
Liang’s most recent credits include Shadow In The Cloud starring Chloe Moretz. The film won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
The package marks one of the first major sales for Mosier as a writer who cut his teeth working for Kevin Smith helping produce some of his classic films like Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma. He would eventually jump into the world of animation, co-writing and producing the 3D animated pic Free Birds starring Owen Wilson. Most recently, he would co-direct the Illumination hit The Grinch, which bowed in 2018.
Berry and HalleHolly are repped by WME, Range Media Partners and attorney Tara Kole, Liang is repped by WME and Grandview and Mosier is repped by CAA and Range.
