{HEAT METER} JFK Spec “Mayday 109” Blazes Into Seventeen Major Territories, With More To Come!
0Blazing hot spec MAYDAY 109, out from Heretic Management’s Jeff Portnoy and Brio Entertainment’s Brehan Fitzgerald and Mia Chang, is burning through town, heading into an impressive number of seventeen territories. Since hitting the market this past Monday, the spec has quickly become the hottest property on the market.
Earlier, we reported that Rickard Pictures and Flynn Picture Co. brought the period drama into New Line Cinema, with Flynn also bringing the project into TriStar, while Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road brought the project to Disney and Sony, Ridley Scott’s Scott Free brought it into Fox and New Regency, Captivate Entertainment into Focus Features, Parkes+MacDonald into DreamWorks, Kevin Bannerman into Amazon Studios, Mayhem Entertainment into both MGM and Participant, Ian Bryce Productions into Paramount per their first-look deal, and StarThrower Entertainment took the spec into Fox 2000.
Now, I can confirm that the heavily-requested project is into Fox Searchlight and FilmNation via Brett Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment, while Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way has teamed with RatPac to take it into Warner Bros., where both companies have first-look deals. Sources also confirm that Rickard Pictures and Flynn Picture Co. have teamed again to take the project into Studio 8.
This brings the number of current territories up to seventeen, yet I’ve been told that there are still more to come and that by end of day the script will likely be into every major studio in financier in town.
Written by Evan Kilgore and Samuel Franco, the period drama tells the story of how a young John F. Kennedy struggled to save the crew of his PT Boat after it was sunk by a Japanese warship during World War II.
Kilgore is perhaps best known for penning the thriller Butterflies of Bill Baker, which starred Nashville‘s Will Chase and The Affair‘s Marin Hinkle. A 2011 Nicholl Fellowship honoree, Kilgore is also known for writing the critically successful action/thriller novels Who is Shayla Hacker, The Children of Black Valley, and Made in China. Just this February Kilgore released his fourth novel, The Last March of Nine, to rave reviews.
Franco is known for executive producing 2014’s Affluenza. Up next, he’ll produce the historical drama Six Minutes To Freedom, based on the book by Kurt Muse and John Gilstrap.
Spec is now into:
Appian Way/RatPac Entertainment into Warner Bros.
Captivate Entertainment into Focus Features
Flynn Picture Co. into TriStar
Ian Bryce Productions into Paramount
Kevin Bannerman into Amazon Studios
Mayhem Entertainment into MGM
Mayhem Entertainment intoParticipant
Parkes+MacDonald into DreamWorks
RatPac Entertainment into FilmNation
RatPac Entertainment into into Fox Searchlight
Rickard Pictures/Flynn Picture Co. into New Line Cinema
Rickard Pictures/Flynn Picture Co. into Studio 8
Scott Free into Fox
Scott Free into New Regency
StarThrower Entertainment into Fox 2000
Thunder Road into Disney
Thunder Road into Sony
SEE THE ORIGINAL SPEC LISTING HERE!
Stay tuned for more info on this project as it develops!