Immensely hot spec MAYDAY 109, out from Heretic Management’s Jeff Portnoy and Brio Entertainment’s Brehan Fitzgerald and Mia Chang, has been the talk of the day, heading into an astounding twenty-one territories.
Thus far, we’ve reported that the in-demand property was 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. We also confirmed that Rickard Pictures and Flynn Picture Co. teamed to take the project into Studio 8 and 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, sources have confirmed that the spec is into Universal via Working Title, which has a long-running production and development deal with the studio. We’ve also confirmed that Grey Matter Productions brought the script into STX, Captivate Entertainment into Lionsgate, and RatPac Entertainment into Odd Lot.
This brings the number of territories up to twenty-one, yet I’ve been told that there are still more to come by tomorrow.
The period drama, written by Evan Kilgore and Samuel Franco, 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.
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. As a screenwriter, Kilgore is best known for penning the thriller Butterflies of Bill Baker, which starred Nashville‘s Will Chase and The Affair‘s Marin Hinkle.
Franco is known for executive producing 2014’s Affluenza. Next, he’ll produce the historical adaptation Six Minutes To Freedom, which is 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
Captivate Entertainment into Lionsgate
Flynn Picture Co. into TriStar
Grey Matter Entertainment into STX
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
RatPac Entertainment into into Odd Lot
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
Working Title into Universal
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!
