Weinstein Co. nabs Keanu Reeves, Reese Witherspoon's “Passengers”May 22, 2013 - 09:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Weinstein Co. has acquired the rights to “Passengers” an upcoming sci-fi film starring Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon, according to multiple individuals with knowledge of the deal. The movie won't begin filming for at least a few months, and TWC plans to release it next year, TheWrap said. Reeves will star as a passenger on a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant planet. Due to a malfunction in a sleep chamber, he awakens years before anyone else. All alone on the vessel, he decides to wake up another passenger (Witherspoon). The concept and script have been popular for a few years, but the package for it did not come together until the past few months with both Reeves and Witherspoon signing on in the past month and a half. “Game of Thrones" director Brian Kirk will make his feature directing debut from a script by "Prometheus" writer Jon Spaihts. Wayfare Entertaiment will finance and produce the film. Wayfare’s Ben Browning will produce with Reeves and Stephen Hamel. CAA handled the domestic rights while Exclusive Media is still shopping the movie overseas. Headed into the festival Exclusive Media international sales chief Alex Walton described the movie as "big in terms of scale and ambition, and more than that, a big movie in terms of commercial potential." The Weinstein Co. has bought into that, with Deadline, which first reported the acquisition, claiming that TWC paid several million for the rights with a much larger marketing commitment. The New York-based company already plopped down $6 million for Stephen Frears’ “Philomena” and also acquired “Suite Francaise.” Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |