EXCLUSIVE: Netflix may have had a bumpy few weeks, but the streamer is about to secure the first major deal at Cannes on a hot-market package.
We understand that Netflix is entering into a global rights deal worth over $50 million for Adventurers of Painwith A silent place star Emily Blunt attached to director David Yates (Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets).
Pic, presented to Cannes Film Market buyers by The Veterans and CAA Media Finance, is set to begin production in late August.
Adventurers of Pain is said to be tonally similar to films such as the big court, american hustle and the wolf of Wall Street. The film centers on Liza Drake (Blunt), a high school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter, who lands a job at a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a yellowing strip mall in central Florida. Liza’s charm, courage and drive propel the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal plot with deadly consequences.
Wells Tower wrote the screenplay. Lawrence Gray will produce under his Gray Matter Productions banner, alongside David Yates and Yvonne Walcott Yates’ Wychwood Pictures. (It was Gray who originally brought the project to Yates in pitch form, then sold it to Sony Pictures.) Lewis Taylor and Ben Everard are executive producers, with Cyrus Mojibi, Patrick Wade, Lawrence Kao and Lloyd Everard serving as as co-producers.
Golden Globe winner Blunt’s recent film credits include Jungle Cruise, A silent place and A Quiet Place Part II and Mary Poppins Returns. The actress will also soon be seen in Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer for Universal.
BAFTA-winning Yates is best known for directing the last four films of the Harry Potter franchise, as well as the three fantastic beasts movies. His work for the big screen has grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. He has also directed television series such as State of play, sex trafficking and The way we live now.