Spike Lee To Direct & Executive Produce Coming-Of-Age ROTC Drama For Amazon Studios

All eyes are on Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry as the second edition of its Red Sea International Film Festival continues to unfold this week in the port city of Jeddah, running from December 1 to 10.

Spike Lee is at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah this weekend to present a screening of his Oscar-nominated 1992 epic biopic Malcolm X and participate in an In-Conversation event.

EXCLUSIVE: After landing the hot package Red Shirt earlier in the week, Amazon Studios has added another high-profile property to their slate as Sources tell Deadline the studio has landed the action comedy Moxie starring Keke Palmer. Deadline broke the news that the package was out to buyers before the Thanksgiving Holiday and Amazon moved fast to land the rights tot pic featuring one of the bigger stars of 2022. Hawkeye director Bert is on board to direct with Heather Quinn penning the script. Palmer, Peter Lawson and Kate Churchill are producing. Sharon Palmer is exec producing.

It took a long, long time for Richard Branson to achieve his goal of blasting off into space, but it finally occurred last year after more than a billion dollars invested through his company Virgin Galactic. 

EXCLUSIVE: Prolific genre creators Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy (The Haunting Of Hill House, Midnight Mass) have signed an exclusive multiyear overall series deal with Amazon Studios. Under the pact, the duo will develop and produce projects via their Intrepid Pictures company, which will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled a star-studded In-Conversations program as the second edition gets underway in the port city of Jeddah today.

Hi team,Nearly nine months ago when we acquired MGM, we said we would take a thoughtful and measured approach to the integration process. It was important to take the time to ensure the right people were in the right jobs for maximum collaboration, creativity, and innovation.

It’s official – Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, will also oversee MGM, the venerable film and TV studio, which was acquired by Amazon earlier this year for $8.5 billion. Additionally, MGM’s COO Chris Brearton will take on a new role, VP, PVS Corporate Strategy, MGM+ and MGM Alternative Television. Mike Hopkins, SVP, Prime Video and Amazon Studios, just made the announcement internally in a memo (You can red it under the post.)

EXCLUSIVE: After recently restructuring Amazon Studios’ original content operations, Head of Television Vernon Sanders is now setting up the MGM scripted TV leadership with new roles for Lindsay Sloane, Sr. EVP of MGM Scripted TV, and Rola Bauer, President of International TV for MGM. He laid out the reorganization in an internal memo, a copy of which was obtained by Deadline. (you can read it in full below.)

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, and catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a competitive bidding war that saw several studios and streamers in the mix, Amazon Studios has landed Red Shirt starring Channing Tatum. Based on an original pitch by Simon Kinberg, David Leitch is aboard to direct the pic. Kelly McCormick and David Leitch are producing under their 87 North production banner; Tatum is producing through his company, Free Association along with his partners Peter Kiernan and Reid Carolin; Kinberg is producing through his Genre Films.

Tyler Perry is going to Amazon Prime Video. The film division led by Jennifer Salke has notched a deal with the Atlanta-based entertainment mogul that will see him produce, write and direct four features for worldwide distribution on Prime Video.

Amazon Studios announced on Monday that it has closed a four-picture film deal with powerhouse producer, actor, writer and director Tyler Perry. The pact will see Perry write, direct and produce four features for release on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Quentin Tarantino’s second book, Cinema Speculation, is as hard to put down as his “novelization” of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. His film education began at age 7, when he quickly warmed to the violent R-rated movies he makes today. Now, the mission for this interview was not to get Tarantino to rehash controversies for soundbites — like answering yet again what he wished he could have done to stop Harvey Weinstein’s predatory path or talking about his next film (he seems to be wistful about continuing Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth character, but maybe that is my own wish after reading how the character was fleshed out in that novelization, which makes you understand everything about his match with Bruce Lee and so much more). Tarantino’s also keeping his multi-ep TV series plan quiet, the one he dropped on Elvis Mitchell. He did say he would only ever shoot one if it can be done on film. This interview is for Tarantino’s hardcore fans, a primer to his book and a glimpse into how he became the filmmaker he did.

EXCLUSIVE: Hot directing team Radio Silence will next direct the reboot of Escape From New York for 20th Century Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios is developing a coming-of-age ROTC drama from writers Jalysa Conway (9-1-1 Lone Star) and Rebecca Murga (Swagger) — both military veterans — with Spike Lee set to direct and executive produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Travis Scott Joins Isaac Yowman to Executive Produce a DJ Screw biopic for Columbia Pictures with director Isaac Yowman directing. Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony, is producing the feature length scripted film under the leadership of Vice President Maia Eyre. November 16th will mark the 22 year memorial of DJ Screw’s death. 

EXCLUSIVE: Former ICM political strategist Brandon Sharp has launched Agenda, a management and production company that will be dedicated to advancing inclusive entertainment and media projects. The company will work with TV and film writers, actors, directors, musicians, authors, artists, public intellectuals, playwrights, and business founders from predominately untapped communities to realize their projects on more equitable grounds.