Sony Pictures Swings To $1.3 Billion Q3 Profit

Sony Pictures Television has named kids programming vet Joe D’Ambrosia has been named EVP & General Manager of its Silvergate Media subsidiary.

Emiliano De Pablos Closing in on one of the leading voices in Caribbean cinema, Sony Pictures Television has acquired from Latido Films Latin American rights to “Hotel Coppelia,” directed by Dominican filmmaker José María Cabral.Produced by Santo Domingo-based Rafael Elías Muñoz at Lantica Media and Cabral’s outfit Tabula Rasa, “Hotel Coppelia” is a real events-inspired drama, set during the 1965 Revolution in Dominican Republic.The story focus on a forlorn band of prostitutes, forced to pick sides when the American military invades and the soldiers hole up in their seaside brothel.“It would be impossible to think of a better house to have ‘Hotel Coppelia’ seen in Latin America,” Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura told Variety about the Sony Pictures deal. “The film deals with great intelligence with important issues of the history not only of the Dominican Republic but of all the region, but seen through the eyes of unexpected protagonists, caught in events that are beyond their reach.

Sony Pictures Classics has pushed back the release for Roger Michell’s film The Duke, starring Academy Award winners Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, by a month—from March 25 to April 22, 2022. It will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on the latter date before expanding to additional cities over the following weeks.

No Spide-Man? No Peace! At least according to director Kevin Smith, who has xpressed his vehement displeasure about the Oscar snub of Spider-Man: No Way Home from the Best Picture Oscar nominees.

Ellise Shafer The SF Studios comedy “A Man Called Otto,” starring Tom Hanks, has been acquired by Sony Pictures for $60 million.The sale marks the largest deal to date at the virtual European Film Market, surpassing Netflix’s $55 million acquisition of “The Pale Blue Eye” last year. Directed by Marc Forster, “A Man Called Otto” sparked a fierce bidding war with Sony ultimately coming out on top with the film’s worldwide rights. It will be released in theaters.Based on Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel “A Man Called Ove,” the film tells the story of Otto (Hanks), a grumpy and strict widower who upholds the rest of his neighborhood to his staunch rules.

Momentum Pictures has acquired North American and UK rights to Blumhouse Productions’ thriller Dashcam from director Rob Savage, who broke out in 2020 with his pandemic horror feature, Host. The Entertainment One company plans to release it in theaters this summer.

Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Scarlett Pictures are partnering to co-produce The New Boy with Blanchett attached to star and Warwick Thornton writing and directing. Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair join Blanchett in the ensemble, which is set to begin filming in October of this year in South Australia. Roadshow Films will be distributing for Australia and New Zealand, CAA Media Finance and UTA will be handling sales for North America, and The Veterans is on board to manage sales for the remainder of the globe. Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Georgie Pym will be producing for Dirty Films; and Kath Shelper will produce for Scarlett Pictures.

Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended a content deal that will see the likes of Spider Man: No Way Home and Ghostbusters: Afterlife made available on HBO Max and HBO channels across Central Eastern Europe.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended their content deal across Central and Eastern Europe, which will see titles from the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) slate of current and upcoming films shown exclusively on HBO channels and streamer HBO Max across the region.The slate includes “Spider-man: No Way Home,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Unchartered,” “Morbius,” “Happiest Season,” “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” “Monster Hunter” and “The Father.”The deal also includes titles from popular SPE franchises such as Hotel Transylvania, Spider-Man, Peter Rabbit and Jumanji and the Sony Pictures Television library of TV series titles.Countries covered under the deal are Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia. HBO Max replaces HBO Go in the region on March 8.

EXCLUSIVE: Actress and filmmaker Romola Garai, whose directorial debut Amulet played at Sundance 2020, is working on a raft of projects including a re-team with Amulet producer Matthew James Wilkinson (Yesterday).

Beginning with our review coverage all the way back to the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, through Cannes in July, Venice and Telluride in the late summer, and finally to late-breaking holiday-season releases that qualified just under the gun for Oscar eligibility, Deadline has been on the front lines of opinion for this year’s eventual 10 nominees for Oscar Best Picture.

Sony Pictures Classics has pushed back the theatrical release date for Eva Husson’s romantic drama Mothering Sunday, starring Odessa Young, by a month—from February 25 to March 25. It will open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, on the heels of a one-week, awards-qualifying run in Los Angeles in November of 2021, before expanding to other markets over the following weeks.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the massive success of Spider-man: No Way Home, Sony is looking to to expand on its Marvel Cinematic Universe as sources tell Deadline that Dakota Johnson is in talks to star in the studio’s Madame Web movie. S.J. Clarkson is on board to direct the pic.Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. penned the screenplay.

TOKYO -- Sony’s profit for the quarter through December edged up 11% on healthy sales from its film division, including the new Spider-Man movie, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Wednesday.Tokyo-based Sony Corp. recorded a 346 billion yen ($3 billion) profit for the fiscal third quarter, up from 310.7 billion yen the previous year.Quarterly sales edged up to 3 trillion yen ($26 billion) from 2.7 trillion yen.Sony said strong offerings in its music division, like the album “30" from Adele; movies like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and licensing income from the “Seinfeld” series lifted earnings.Its imaging and sensor unit also posted solid results.In video games, sales fell short of expectations as a parts supply crunch, especially of semiconductors, dented sales of its PlayStation 5 machine, Sony said.The company's chief financial officer, Hiroki Totoki, said Sony's acquisition of Bungie Inc., known for its Halo and Destiny games, for $3.6 billion highlighted its commitment to the gaming business.The purchase includes payments to the shareholder creators at the independent studio to ensure their retention, he said.Analysts say the addition complements Sony’s strength in shooting games and will further solidify its position.But competition is heating up in the video game industry.Microsoft Corp.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSony’s pictures division achieved net profits of $1.3 billion in the three months to December 2021, boosted by a return to theatrical releasing and the blockbuster performance of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The $1.31 billion figure compares with profits of $194 million in the equivalent quarter of 2020, and with profits of $288 million in the preceding three months to end of September 2021.Parent company, Sony Group’s net profits grew by 20% in the three months to December 2021 hitting JPY461 billion. Sales were up by 13% to JPY3.03 trillion.The bumper results, unusually, made the pictures division the largest contributor to Sony’s consolidated net profits.

EXCLUSIVE: Sarena Khan and Andra Gordon’s Athena Pictures and Starlings Television, led by Chris Philip, have teamed with Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman to co-produce Shadowland, a female-driven wildlife crime thriller series, from Jacqui Barcos, director Darnell Martin (American Rust, The Good Lord Bird) and executive producer Peter Elkoff (Sons of Anarchy, Chance).

EXCLUSIVE: Teresa Hsiao, co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, has signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop comedy and animation for cable streaming platforms via her Red 136 Productions.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has acquired exclusive South Asia media rights for the 2022 Asian Games taking place later this year at Hangzhou, China. SPN will have the rights to broadcast the games across its sports channels in India and the subcontinent including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives, and on streamer SonyLIV through Sept. 2023.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Living,” an acclaimed re-imagining of Akira Kurosawa’s classic meaning-of-life story, has been sold to Sony Pictures Classics follow its premiere at Sundance Film Festival.Sony Pictures Classics, the indie division of Sony Pictures, has acquired rights in North America, Latin America, India, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Germany, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and airlines worldwide. A release date has not been announced yet.“Living” was directed by Oliver Hermanus and written by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro.