Sister Enters First-Look Deal With Filmmaker David Yates’ Wychwood Media

Angelique Jackson Prolific producer Debra Martin Chase has re-upped her multi-year first-look deal with Universal Television.The news comes as the two parties celebrate continued success for “The Equalizer,” starring Queen Latifah, which was renewed for a third and fourth season earlier this month.“I’m thrilled that this partnership with Debra continues to thrive to this day,” stated Universal Television president Erin Underhill. “It has been phenomenal to work with Debra and her team on ‘The Equalizer.’ She is a true inspiration, pioneer and friend.”With the extension, Chase will develop and produce new projects for network, cable and streaming services under her Martin Chase Productions banner.

EXCLUSIVE: Screen Media has acquired North American rights to Renny Harlin’s actioner The Bricklayer from Millennium Films, slating the pic for release in theaters and on VOD next summer. The Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company has also unveiled a new still from the film, starring Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) and Nina Dobrev (xXx: Return of Xander Cage), which can be found below.

Carole Horst Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson star in “57 Seconds,” a thriller based in the world of tech and big pharma. The film is directed by Rusty Cundieff (“Tales From the Hood,” “Chappelle’s Show”), and written by Macon Blair (Netflix’s “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance), and is based on the acclaimed story by British author E.C.

Variety reports. The sale is the biggest yet out of Cannes this year.Acclaimed short story and nonfiction writer Wells Tower (“Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned”) will be penning the script.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNetflix is wrapping up a deal for “Pain Hustlers,” a conspiracy film from David Yates that is set to star Emily Blunt.The pact, which is for global rights to the package, is said to be in the $50 million range, according to a knowledgable insider. The sale is the biggest one so far out of Cannes, where dealmaking has been slow going.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix might have had a bumpy few weeks, but the streamer is poised to strike the first major Cannes deal on a hot market package.

The One Show viewers were left giggling as Harry Potter icon Bonnie Wright pronounced a simple word wrong a number of times.The Harry Potter actor appeared as a guest on the BBC show to talk about her new programme, The Big Plastic Count, on Monday night. The show aims to help people lessen their carbon footprint by gathering data about how much plastic they use in their homes. A young participant in the show Maya was interviewed alongside Bonnie, but viewers couldn't help feeling distracted by how Bonnie said the word 'data'.

Universal Pictures has entered into a first-look production deal with “The Notebook” author Nicholas Sparks to bring three of his more recent novels to the big screen, starting with last year’s runaway hit “The Wish.” Sparks and Anonymous Content will partner to produce three feature films for Universal, each one based on one of his most recent books, though only a film based on “The Wish” was announced on Tuesday. Zack Hayden will produce “The Wish” on behalf of Anonymous Content with oversight by Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead and CCO David Levine, alongside Theresa Park, Sparks’ longtime literary agent and collaborator, and Universal Pictures’ Vice President of Production Development, Lexi Barta.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook) has entered into a first-look production agreement with Universal Pictures, which will see him produce three features for the studio alongside Anonymous Content.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Snowpiercer” producer Tomorrow Studios has struck a first-look deal with Frank Spotnitz’s London-based production company Big Light Prods.Under the deal, Tomorrow Studios will tap into Big Light’s network of established and emerging writers and its pursuit of IP for projects to produce together under one development slate.Big Light Prods. specializes in returning and limited dramas for the global market.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentParis-based company Kinology has secured international sales to “Il Sol Dell’Avvenire,” from Italian auteur and Cannes regular Nanni Moretti. Pic is currently shooting in Rome.The deal between Kinology and Domenico Procacci’s Fandango, which is producing in tandem with Moretti’s Sacher shingle and RAI Cinema, marks the first time Kinology has handled a Moretti pic.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWestEnd Films has closed a series of new deals on “Out of the Blue,” an upcoming thriller that brings together Neil LaBute and Diane Kruger.Rights for the film, which LaBute writes and directs, have gone to Australia and New Zealand (Kismet Movies), France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany (Koch Films), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Middle East (Phoenicia Pictures) Israel (Forum Film), Poland (Galapagos Films), Greece (Spentzos Film), former Yugoslavia (Investacommerce) and Portugal (Nos Lusomundo). WestEnd is also sharing a moody first-look image.Kruger, best known for her performances in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Troy,” leads an ensemble that also includes Ray Nicholson (“Promising Young Woman”), Hank Azaria (“Love & Other Drugs”) and Chase Sui Wonders (“Genera+ion”).

An avalanche of excellent film packages have been linked to the Cannes Market this month, and another one has a high-profile actress and director involved. Emily Blunt (“Sicario”) and Potterverse director David Yates are teaming up for a new crime thriller, “Pain Hustlers,” that is set within the world of prescription drugs.

K.J. Yossman “Old” star Rufus Sewell and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s” Shirley Henderson are set to lead dark comedy “The Trouble With Jessica.”Sewell will also be reunited with his “A Knight’s Tale” co-star Alan Tudyk in the film.

Ellise Shafer Emily Blunt will star in “Pain Hustlers,” a criminal conspiracy film directed by “Fantastic Beasts” helmer David Yates that will be introduced to buyers at Cannes.From a script by “The True American” writer Wells Tower, the film is produced by Lawrence Grey through his Grey Matter Productions banner and Wychwood Pictures.The movie’s official logline reads: “Dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter, Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout, lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Liza’s charm, guts and drive catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) is attached to star in the upcoming film Pain Hustlers, from director David Yates (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore). Pic will be introduced to buyers at the Cannes Film Market by The Veterans and CAA Media Finance, going into production in late August.

Another hot project is hitting the Cannes market as Emily Blunt is attached to star Pain Hustlers with David Yates directing. Wells Tower penned the script with Lawrence Grey producing through his Grey Matter Productions banner along with Wychwood Pictures

“Virgin River” gets its season 4 release date.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has extended Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Ben Karlin and his Superego Industries’ first-look deal.

Sister, the independent studio founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone, has entered into a first look deal with Wychwood Media, a new production company from Lewis Taylor and “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” director David Yates.Under the pact, Yates and Taylor will develop and produce both scripted and unscripted film, television, and documentary content for Sister for both its U.S. and UK offices.