The burgeoning content group made headlines beyond Europe last December when it announced it was acquiring a significant stake in Brad Pitt’s company Plan B Entertainment.
Curiosity about the $300 million deal and how the production house behind The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight will fit into the Mediawan fold is rife on both sides of the Atlantic.
“This partnership is an important step for us,” says d’Arvieu. “We’re a European studio, our DNA is European, but our vision is international. While our producers and talent are carrying projects that are local in nature, their international ambitions are growing.”
She continues: “The American market is an important one for European works, and we understood we needed a partner in situ. Until now, we’ve been working on a case-by-case basis, but we wanted a partner who could be the image of Mediawan in the U.S.”
Nicola Serra, managing director of Rome-based film and TV The Name Of The Rose production company Palomar which joined the Mediawan fold in 2019, thinks the partnership will be a game-changer.
Category: plan b
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Makes First Foray Into Audio Entertainment With Audible Deal
Audible signed an exclusive, multiproject development deal with Plan B Entertainment, the production company led by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, for a slate of audio originals.
Under the worldwide deal — which represents Plan B’s entry into audio entertainment — the production company will create a slate of Audible originals. It’s the latest pact by Amazon-owned Audible with high-profile Hollywood talent to create exclusive audio productions.
Plan B’s inaugural project for Audible is “A Summer Love Thing” from cinematographer Bradford Young. Currently in active development, “A Summer Love Thing” follows a woman who leaves her successful singing career to return to her Southern hometown and pursue her first love, a blue-collar worker, for the second time. Plan B and Audible describe the project as “moody, lyrical and ethereal, as is all of Bradford’s work,” using “Southern soundscapes to evoke a place, space and time.”
‘Lego Masters’ Renewed for Fourth Season
Fox is going to continue playing with Lego.
The network has renewed its competition series Lego Masters, hosted by Will Arnett, for a fourth season. Fox has also picked up a second edition of the short-run spinoff Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular ahead of its Dec. 19 premiere. Both are set to air in the 2023-24 season.
“Lego Masters represents what TV does best, bringing all ages together for a night of family-friendly fun and competition,” said Allison Wallach, president unscripted programming at Fox. “The builders raised the bar with an incredible fusion of creativity and engineering genius in season three, which featured even more pop culture-piercing themed episodes and our toughest competition yet. With Will Arnett back as host, alongside our immensely talented production crew and partners at Endemol Shine North America, the sky’s the limit on season four.”
Plan B’s New Owner, Mediawan’s Pierre-Antoine Capton, on the Future of Brad Pitt’s Oscar-Winning Company
Brad Pitt’s Plan B may have a new owner in Mediawan. But Pierre-Antoine Capton, the head of the conglomerate behind “Call My Agent!,” says he plans to take a hands-off approach to overseeing the Oscar-winning company he just bought.
“Plan B will continue to operate independently with the same leadership,” Capton told Variety shortly after the deal closed.
That doesn’t mean Capton isn’t looking to change some things. He says Plan B’s new chapter will include more TV and collaborations with Europe. Capton, a well-connected TV producer who launched Mediawan in 2015 with telco billionaire Xavier Niel and financier Matthieu Pigasse, began talks with Plan B a year ago and engineered the deal which is expected to formally close in January. Under the pact, Plan B was paid half in shares of Mediawan and half in cash. The deal values Plan B at about $300 million.
Golden Globes Nominees
Best picture, musical or comedy: “Babylon”
Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, “Babylon”
Best actress, musical or comedy: Margot Robbie, “Babylon”
Best actor, musical or comedy: Diego Calva, “Babylon”
Original score: Justin Hurwitz, “Babylon”
Check out the entire list right here. So excited for Brad and this movie! Some of Plan B’s productions are also nominated!
Pitt’s Plan B, Mediawan Closes Deal for Majority Stake Sale
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment has closed a deal sell a majority stake to Mediawan, the pan-European media conglomerate.
The parties issued a press release confirming they had entered into a “definite agreement” for Mediawan to buy a “significant stake” in Plan B. Under the pact, which values the company over $300 million, Plan B is also taking a stake in Mediawan.
Plan B Entertainment, which is run by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner, hired Moelis & Co. to shop for a buyer or potential investors in October. The banner was founded in 2001 by Pitt and Jennifer Aniston shortly after the pair married. Pitt eventually took over the banner after the two divorced in 2005. Its credits include “The Departed,” “Moonlight” and “12 Years a Slave,” all of which won the Oscar for best picture. The company recently produced “She Said,” a look at the journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, as well as “Blonde,” an off-beat drama about Marilyn Monroe.
Bong Joon Ho’s ‘Mickey 17,’ with Robert Pattinson, Set for 2024 Release Date
Warner Bros. shared a first look at Bong Joon Ho’s upcoming “Mickey 17,” set to be released on March 29, 2024. “Mickey 17” is currently in production and is directed, produced, and scripted by Bong, adapted from Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey 7.”
Pattinson stars as the titular Mickey, who is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever a mission is too dangerous — even suicidal — the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.
The film is produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Dooho Choi of Kate Street Picture Company, and Bong under his Offscreen, Inc. banner.
Andrew Dominik Says Brad Pitt Is Responsible For Breaking Him Out Of “Director Jail” But Thinks ‘Blonde’ Might Put Him There Again
Speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival (via Variety), Andrew Dominik talked about the critical reception of “Blonde,” once again. And though he knows that critics and some film fans weren’t excited by his new film, he’s very thankful that Brad Pitt, the man behind Plan B films, was there to break him out of “director jail” and let him make the film.
“I spend a lot of time in director jail, then my friend Brad Pitt comes down and talks to the parole board and convinces them to let me out,” said Dominik. “Then I just go out and re-offend again, I’m incorrigible.”
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Is Said in Deal Talks With France’s Mediawan
Actor Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, the production company behind films like Moonlight and The Big Short, is in talks to sell a significant stake to French media conglomerate Mediawan, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company has received bids from a few potential investors, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations. Mediawan, which has been backed by KKR & Co., is the front-runner. Plan B is expected to make a final decision in the next couple of weeks. Talks could still fall apart, and another bidder could still win.
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Seeking Potential Buyer
Plan B — the Oscar-winning banner run by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner — is seeking a potential buyer. The Moonlight and Minari shingle has tapped Moelis & Co. to shop for a buyer or potential investors.
Moelis & Co. declined to comment. Plan B reps could not be reached for comment.
Plan B has become an awards season regular with credits that include 12 Years a Slave, Selma and The Big Short, along with blockbuster titles like World War Z. This year, the company is behind MGM’s Women Talking, Universal’s She Said, Netflix’s Blonde and HBO Max’s Father of the Bride. (Plan B was started in the early 2000s by Pitt and then-wife Jennifer Aniston, with Pitt taking over the company after the couple divorced.)
In TV, Plan B’s credits include HBO’s The Normal Heart and Amazon’s The Underground Railroad, which reunited the company with Moonlight director Barry Jenkins.
Plan B has a first-look deal for TV with Amazon Studios and a features deal with MGM.
This news of Plan B’s search for a potential buyer comes as top-tier Hollywood production banners are courting big bucks for outright acquisitions and major numbers for equity investments.
Film Exec Emily Wolfe Joins Plan B Entertainment
Film industry veteran Emily Wolfe has joined Plan B Entertainment’s film division as it continues to expand its prolific slate of films.
“We are excited to have Emily join our team as we look towards the future of our company, and the continued building of our feature-film slate. She will be a welcome addition to our growing company,” Plan B Entertainment’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner said Thursday.
Wolfe most recently served as co-producer on the Millie Bobby Brown fantasy film Damsel. A former Netflix executive, she worked for four years on films including The King, Rebecca, Let It Snow, Earthquake Bird, The Midnight Sky, Yes Day and Paul Thomas Anderson’s one-reeler Anima. She began her career working for Lindsay Doran and Stacey Snider.
