Summit Entertainment

Alex Proyas in Talks to Direct GODS OF EGYPT

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 17th, 2012 at 4:30 pm

After developing an ambitious, VFX-oriented adaptation of Paradise Lost for nearly a year only to have Legendary Pictures scrap the film due to budget issues, director Alex Proyas (The Crow) is on the hunt for new projects.  He recently became attached to direct an adaptation of the dark novella The Unpleasant Profession of Jonah Hoag, but Variety reports that he’s eyeing a more large-scale project as well.  Proyas is currently in negotiations to helm Summit’s Gods of Egypt, an adventure film “set against the legendary world of great pyramids and sphinxes” that follows a thief and a god on a magical quest.

Proyas’ deal includes him writing the script alongside Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, so he’ll have a fairly intricate hand in the development of the project. Gods of Egypt sounds like a fun idea if done right, and maybe Proyas can put to use some of the crazy VFX work he had planned for Paradise Lost.  No word on how soon the project would come to fruition, but given that Proyas wants to write the script I’d assume it’s a ways off.

HUNGER GAMES Director Gary Ross in Talks to Helm Adaptation of THE SECRET LIFE OF HOUDINI

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 2nd, 2012 at 12:18 pm

It came as quite a shock when Gary Ross, who directed and shepherded the adaptation of The Hunger Games into a massively successful film that pleased both fans and critics, declined to direct the follow-up, Catching Fire.  Ross wasn’t keen on the idea of rushing pre-production in order to meet an August production start-date, so he politely bowed out of the series.  Ross takes his sweet time when choosing directorial projects (his only films as director are Hunger Games, Seabiscuit, and Pleasantville), but he’s likely been inundated with offers following the smashing success of the dystopian sci-fi adaptation.

Now it appears that Ross has settled on one of his post-Hunger Games projects, and it happens to be an adventure film about the secret life of Harry Houdini.  Hit the jump for more.

ENDER’S GAME Pushed Back to November 1, 2013

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 9th, 2012 at 1:06 pm

The feature film adaptation of Ender’s Game is undergoing a slight release date shift.  Previously scheduled for March 15th, 2013, Summit has opted for a more holiday-friendly release of November 1st, 2013.  Currently the only other film schedule to open on that date is Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi pic Singularity, with DreamWorks Animation’s Me and My Shadow opening a week later (followed by Thor 2 and The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire).  It’s unknown why the release date change was made, but it should be interesting to see if Fox moves Singularity off that date to prevent a sci-fi showdown with a beloved literary adaptation.  Hit the jump for more, including a synopsis of Orson Scott Card’s novel.

Lionsgate Acquires Summit Entertainment for $412.5 Million

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 13th, 2012 at 3:21 pm

It’s official. Lionsgate has acquired Summit Entertainment for a combination of cash and stock valued at $412.5 million. This acquisition effectively turns Lionsgate into a teen super studio, as they now hold the rights to the insanely successful Twilight franchise as well as The Hunger Games. While The Hunger Games has yet to be released in theaters, the book series’ rabid fanbase all but ensures that the futuristic adventure pic will be a hit (a screenwriter is already hard at work on the sequel adaptation). Still, Lionsgate is crossing its fingers that the franchise takes off like a rocket. Summit will remain a standalone label for now, but there’s no word on what the future holds. Hit the jump to read the press release.

First Images and Synopses for THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, GONE, SINISTER, STEP UP 4, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 9th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Summit has released images and synopses for their 2012 line-up.  We already showed you the first image from Warm Bodies, and now we have the first images from Gone starring Amanda Seyfried, Sinister starring Ethan Hawke, The Perks of Being a Wallflower starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, and Step Up 4 starring people you probably don’t know.  The studio has released synopses for all of their 2012 movies.  We don’t have images for every one of their films and some of the synopses are really just log-lines, but you’ll know more about these films than you did before.

Hit the jump to check out the images, read the synopses, and learn things.

Summit in Talks to Produce Steven Soderbergh’s THE BITTER PILL

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 6th, 2011 at 6:35 pm

While it seemed as though Steven Soderbergh would have a pretty big hole in his schedule after dropping out of directing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. over casting disputes with Warner Bros., the director quickly moved on to a brand new project called The Bitter Pill. Soderbergh has slotted the film as his next project, and now it looks as though he’s found a studio. Deadline reports that Summit Entertainment is in final negotiations to make a green light commitment to the film. Described as a “psychopharmacology thriller” in the vein of Basic Instinct or Jagged Edge, the film centers on “a troubled and depressed woman who is taking serious amounts of prescription drugs to deal with the anxiety surrounding the pending release of her husband from prison.”

Frequent Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z. Burns (The Informant!, Contagion) wrote the script, and he described it as dealing with people and their moods, saying “It’s about how we as a society can’t tolerate sadness and what that makes us vulnerable to.” The Soderbergh-Burns collaborations thus far as proven fruitful, and I’m onboard for pretty much anything the versatile filmmaker decides to tackle. After Pill he’ll move on to his final film before retirement/sabbatical, the Liberace biopic The Man Behind the Candelabra.

Possible Merger Between Lions Gate and Summit Entertainment

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 28th, 2011 at 6:55 pm

Earlier this month, we mentioned that Lions Gate Entertainment’s The Hunger Games must make at least $100 million in order to justify the sequels being made. While there’s no doubt in my mind the movie will make that at the box office, the independent film company does have another source of income: merge with Summit Entertainment. The studio that’s behind the current Twilight series (which has earned over $1 billion through 4 of its 5 planned films) is reportedly in talks with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. about a potential merger. The benefit to Lions Gate would be a much-needed cash infusion. This, in turn, could ensure the production of The Hunger Games sequels, which could pay dividends for Summit if successful. Hit the jump for more on the possibility of a merger.

First Promo Image and Synopsis for WARM BODIES Starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 2nd, 2011 at 10:22 am

Steve is over at the American Film Market where various studios are trying to sell the international rights to their upcoming films.  One of the films being sold is Jonathan Levine‘s zombie love story Warm Bodies, and Steve snapped a photo of the promo image.  The movie stars Nicholas Hoult as “R”, a zombie who falls in love with Julie (Teresa Palmer) after he eats her boyfriend’s brains and absorbs his memories.  I got to visit the set last week and while I’m embargoed like crazy, I can say the movie looks like an interesting spin on the genre.  Judging by this image, it looks like Summit Entertainment is going to play up the romance aspect (the movie also has horror and comedy) and making it look like zombie Twilight.  That’s a risky bet since I don’t think those audiences are going to cross-over, but it’s still early in the game and remember: this is trying to sell international studios, not the public.

Hit the jump to check out the promo image.  The film also stars Rob Corddry, John Malkovich, Analeigh Tipton, and Dave Franco.  Warm Bodies opens August 10, 2012. [Update: We've updated the article with a full, comprehensive synopsis as well as a high resolution version of the image]

McG in Talks to Direct Cop Drama PUZZLE PALACE for Summit

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 25th, 2011 at 5:57 pm

Director McG is currently in negotiations to direct the cop drama Puzzle Palace. Deadline reports that Summit Entertainment acquired the project as a pitch earlier this year from David Guggenheim, who then penned the script. No other plot details are given other than the fact that the project is a “cop drama.” Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, who were producers on the Twilight series, are onboard as producers. McG was in line to direct Ouija, based on the board game, as his next project but Universal ultimately passed on the film so it’s now back in development. The director recently wrapped the action comedy This Means War starring Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, and Reese Witherspoon.

Guggenheim recently penned the drama Safe House, which stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds and is slated for release in February. He also just sold a pitch for the superpower-centered pic 364 to Universal which Ron Howard is poised to direct.

Summit Sets Dates for RED 2, ENDER’S GAME, NOW YOU SEE ME, STEP UP 4, SINISTER and WARM BODIES

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 25th, 2011 at 12:10 pm

Summit Entertainment has claimed some calendar dates for its upcoming movies.  According to Box Office Mojo, Jonathan Levine’s zombie flick Warm Bodies hits theaters on August 10, 2012 Scott Derrickson‘s horror movie Sinister will arrive on August 24, 2012; Louis Leterrier‘s magician heist thriller Now You See Me is due out January 18, 2013; Red 2 will open August 2, 2013; Gavin Hood‘s adaptation of Ender’s Game is set for March 15, 2013; and Step Up 4 has moved up from August 10, 2012 to July 27, 2012.

Hit the jump for more details on these films and what competition they’ll have on their weekends.

Summit Buys Untitled Action-Comedy from THE ROCK Writers About Two Men Who Reposess Airplanes

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: October 12th, 2011 at 5:54 pm

Summit bought an untitled action-comedy pitch today.  Variety was unable to uncover too many details, but the one detail that did surface is wonderfully unique: the story will track two repo men who repossess… airplanes!  The story was hatched by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, the writing team behind The Rock—so how can you go wrong?  Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) and JC Spink (The Hangover Part II) will produce.

This is the second pitch Cook and Weisberg have sold to Summit in recent months alongside a “female ensemble actioner.”  The duo also has Blank Slate set up at Bold Entertainment and Nick Rachett at Disney.  This busy slate comes over a decade after Cook and Weisberg’s last credit, 1999′s Double Jeopardy.

Summit Picks Up Rights to Crime Thriller HEADHUNTERS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 10th, 2011 at 5:55 pm

Summit is looking to get into the crime thriller game. Deadline reports that the studio has acquired the English-language movie rights to Jo Nesbø’s Norwegian thriller Headhunters. The book was recently published in the United States and quickly became a New York Times bestseller. The story centers on a corporate head hunter who finances his extravagant lifestyle by stealing artwork from his rich clients. He gets wrapped up into a murderous scheme after breaking into his most recent client’s apartment.

A Scandinavian adaptation of the novel has already been produced, and screened to positive reception at Fantastic Fest. Marianne Gray, Ole Sondberg, and Berna Levin are set to produce the English-language pic. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the novel.

Summit and TWILIGHT Producers to Develop IN THE FLESH Based on Teen Novel A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 5th, 2011 at 7:25 pm

Summit Entertainment as purchased the spec script In the Flesh, an adaptation of the teen ghost novel A Certain Slant of Life. Kristin Hahn penned the script based on Laura Whitcomb’s novel, which centers on the ghost of a young woman who died 130 years ago. Her guilt prevents her from moving on, and she falls in love with another spirit who teaches her how to inhabit the body of a mortal whose spirit has died. Variety reports that The Twilight Saga’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfre are producing, which signals that Summit is hoping to keep a foothold on the “teen supernatural romance” genre that they’ve so successfully built with the Twilight franchise once the series comes to an end next year. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of Whitcomb’s A Certain Slant of Light.

Summit Acquires Rights to Comic AREA 52

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: September 27th, 2011 at 4:41 pm

The latest comic to be mined for cinematic gold is Image’s Area 52. Summit Entertainment has acquired the screen rights to the four-issue comic book series. The story centers on a top-secret warehouse in Antarctica named (naturally) Area 52 where countless otherworldly discoveries are stored. An alien killing machine is accidentally hatched in the lab, and the ragtag group of misfits tasked with manning the facility must use the stored mythological weapons and artifacts to stop the creature before it destroys the world.

I’m not familiar with the series, but if the studio can assemble some great behind-the-scenes talent I would assume that a pretty cool creature feature (or franchise) could be borne out of the material. Deadline reports that Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) are producing the pic, and will next set out to find a screenwriter.

SMALLVILLE Showrunners in Talks to Direct Adaptation of HOMELANDERS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: August 12th, 2011 at 1:10 pm

Summit Entertainment is moving forward with their adaptation of the young adult series Homelanders. Written by Andrew Klavan, the books tell the Bourne Identity-esque story of a high school student who awakens tied to a chair with no recollection of why or how he got there. He realizes that an entire year has passed, and sets out to uncover the truth as to why the authorities and terrorist organizations are after him.

Heat Vision reports that Summit has tapped Miles Chapman to pen the screenplay. Smallville showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are working alongside Chapman on the script, and are currently in negotiations to make their directorial debut on the project. Summit is apparently injecting a sci-fi element into the story, but I can’t help but wonder why we need another “Who am I?” on-the-run thriller with Abduction and The Bourne Legacy on the way. Currently two books have been published in the series, so if teens flock to Homelanders you can expect more amnesia goodness to follow. Hit the jump to read the synopsis of the first book. 

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