Franchise, Morgan to ink distrib'n pact
Stiller, Stalone pix on slate
Sources said that under the deal, which has been in the works for several months but seems likely to be signed this weekend, Morgan Creek and Franchise intend to co-finance and co-distribute more than 10 films.
Morgan Creek will handle domestic distribution, via its output deal with Warners, and Franchise will handle foreign. Morgan Creek, which maintains a number of its own international output deals, may opt to take foreign rights on particular projects.
Pics may be fed into the deal by Franchise, Morgan Creek or other producers with deals at WB.
The first three productions under the pact will be the long-gestating adaptation of "What Makes Sammy Run," which Ben Stiller will write, star in and helm; the Sylvester Stallone vehicle "Ernie Popovich"; and the romantic comedy "Prisoner of Love."
Producers on "Sammy," which is based on the famed novel written by Budd Schulberg in 1941, will be Morgan Creek topper James Robinson, Billy Gerber and Samaha.
Gerber, a former co-prexy of production at WB with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, segued into a producing deal at the studio earlier this year.
Schulberg penned the original "Sammy" script himself. It subsequently was re-drafted by Jerry Stahl, but until now the pic has remained stuck in development.
Mark Canton, whose Canton Co. is based at WB, will produce his actioner "Popovich" along with Gerber and Samaha under the new deal. Pic, written by Arthur Bing and Steve Silver, is about a veteran cop who tries to prevent a series of heists in his district.
Gerber and Samaha will re-team, but probably as exec producers, for "Prisoner," which Robert Shapiro ("Empire of the Sun") will produce.
'Kid' in U.S.
Among the forthcoming completed Franchise pics that Morgan Creek is likely to distribute in the U.S. is "White River Kid," starring Antonio Banderas.
Franchise, a producing, financing and international sales partnership between Amritraj, Samaha and prexy/chief operating officer Andrew Stevens, has also produced "A Murder of Crows," starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and "The Confession," starring Alec Baldwin.
Earlier this year, Franchise signed a $100 million credit facility with Imperial Entertainment Group, C.E. Heath and ICE Media in order to fund a slate of new productions.
Morgan Creek reupped its deal with WB in July. Under the new arrangement, Creek and WB will share distribution rights to an unspecified number of pics each year, and co-finance between one and three others, beginning with the $75 million Kurt Russell starrer "Soldier," the cost of which they have split equally.
