Sony Pictures Gained Ground in Streaming Wars With Historic Licensing Deals at Netflix and Disney

Kinetic, from Chris Dennis, is an action thriller where a truck drive has to deliver dangerous cargo to save his pregnant wife. Paul Katis is attached to direct, with Carson Reeves.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all worldwide rights to the documentary “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” which is co-directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern, the studio announced on Thursday.The documentary is produced by Marshall, Suffern and Sean Stuart (“The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash”), executive produced by Quint Davis and Jimmy Buffett and features artists Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, Katy Perry, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many others.“We’re

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Classics has taken all global rights to the documentary Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story co-directed by five-time Oscar nominee Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern (Finding Oscar). Marshall recently directed the HBO documentary The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart which is in consideration for this Emmy season.

Christopher Vourlias Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired remake rights for the Russian blockbuster comedy “Son of a Rich,” the country’s highest-grossing film of all time, Variety has learned.The studio has secured the Mexican, Indian, South Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Italian adaptation rights.

K.J. Yossman Sony Pictures Television has hired Michaela Fereday as senior VP of scripted production.Based in the U.K., she will begin her new role next week, reporting into senior VP of international co-productions, Brendan Fitzgerald.As senior VP of scripted production, Fereday will focus on productions coming out of Sony Pictures Television International Production, as well as overseeing premium scripted series commissioned abroad and produced in the U.K.

Sony Pictures Television has raided Red Production Company for Michaela Fereday, the head of production and executive producer on shows including HBO Max and Channel 4’s critically adored AIDS crisis drama It’s A Sin.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Television will link sixteen aspiring scribes with industry professionals and mentors for its six-week Diverse Writers Program.

Confusion and uncertainty would be good descriptors of how fans feel about Tom Holland’s future as “Spider-Man.” Sony Pictures‘ has multiple ‘Spider-Man’ spinoffs in the works developing their splinter cinematic universe featuring characters such as Venom, Carnage, Morbius, and Kraven, among others, but how does Spider-Man factor into those projects given, he’s so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which seems fairly disconnected from Sony’s Spider-verse? Continue reading Sony Exec Says Their

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSony Pictures Entertainment intends to play the film and TV industry’s new era as an independent studio, committed to theatrical releasing, and with an expanded slate that gives it more options in streaming, says its chairman and CEO, Tony Vinciquerra.Speaking Thursday at parent company Sony Group’s investor relations day, Vinciquerra said that as parts of the world emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic “SPE has many reasons to feel optimistic about the way things

Amazon snatched up MGM. Disney has Lucasfilm, Pixar, and Marvel Studios.

K.J. Yossman “The Killing Kind,” the latest novel from best-selling author Jane Casey, has been optioned by Sony Pictures Television-backed Eleventh Hour Films.The thriller, which is published Thursday by HarperCollins, will be adapted into a limited series by screenwriters Zara Hayes (“Showtrial”) and Jonathan Stewart (“Meet You in Hell”).

Sony Pictures Television-backed Eleventh Hour Films has optioned Jane Casey’s novel The Killing Kind and will adapt it into a limited series.

Sony Pictures has been slowly assembling their own Marvel Comics cinematic universe with characters connected to the “Spider-Man” rights. First, they shocked skeptics, critics, and pundits with the Tom Hardy film “Venom” which grossed over $800 million at the international box office; impressive, given that the film removed Peter Parker’s connection to the anti-hero’s origin and Tom Holland didn’t appear in the film.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment WriterSony has found its greatest hunter.Aaron Taylor-Johnson will headline “Kraven the Hunter,” further expanding Sony Pictures’ efforts to capitalize on its trove of Marvel comics characters with connections to Spider-Man.

Drew Barrymore recently hosted her Music and Lyrics co-star Hugh Grant on her talk show. After exchanging pleasantries and also discussing how good their romantic comedy together was, Barrymore went on to recall a time when she indulged in a drunken kiss with Grant.

William Earl Variety and Sony Pictures Television will host a monthlong immersive experience, the Variety/Sony Pictures Television Virtual FYC House, aimed to capture the attention of TV awards voters. The interactive, 3D experience kicks off with a special preview night for a select audience and then will open to a wider audience on May 27 through June 28.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAfter a months-long standoff, Ryan Kavanaugh’s Triller short-form video platform and Universal Music Group announced worldwide licensing agreements that span recorded music and publishing.In February, UMG pulled its catalog from Triller, citing Triller’s failure to pay licensing fees for songs used on its service.With the new agreements, Triller’s users gain access to UMG’s full catalog of music from the company’s record labels and recording artists, as well as

EXCLUSIVE:  Sony Pictures Television’s TriStar is adapting Laurie Fabiano’s bestselling 2010 historical novel Elizabeth Street for television, with Edoardo Ponti (The Life Ahead) attached to direct and executive produce. Tyler Hisel (Treadstone, Wayward Pines) has written a pilot for the project, based on Fabiano’s own great-grandmother’s epic struggles.

John Grant has released ‘Billy’, the latest single off his upcoming album ‘Boy From Michigan’.His sixth studio album, produced by Cate Le Bon, ‘Boy From Michigan’ set to arrive June 25 via Bella Union.‘Billy’ is its closing track and arrived with a music video directed by regular collaborators Casey and Ewan.