After an auction that saw 40 buyers put in offers before Chernin Entertainment landed rights, the highly sought spec One Month Mark has not only landed an A-list star but also found a studio to call home. Sources tell Deadline that Jennifer Lawrence is attached to star and produce the romantic comedy, with Apple Original Films coming aboard following a competitive auction for the package.
Sophie Fleur de Bruijn penned the spec that Chernin Entertainment’s David Ready and Peter Chernin will produce. Lawrence will produce through her Excellent Cadaver banner along with her partner Justine Ciarrocchi.
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De Bruijn will executive produce as will Brady Fujikawa, EVP of Chernin Entertainment. Fujikawa will oversee for Chernin.
Deadline was first to report Chernin landing the buzzy spec following one of the bigger auctions in recent memory. The film script drew interest from more that 40 producers, including major production companies with studio deals, independent financiers, and genre labels that would have been making their first foray into rom-com. The project also attracted unsolicited offers from studios and streamers.
High-profile actors and directors chased this project trying to get meetings with producers, which should surprise no one after the producer feeding frenzy. Ultimately, Lawrence was the perfect fit according to insiders; once she was on, Apple wasn’t far behind to come on to the package. Insiders say producers and the studio will now work to find the right director for the film.
The film follows two individuals – she has never made it past a month in a relationship, he has never gone longer than a month without one.
This auction was unlike anything Hollywood had seen post-strike, not only because of the amount of producers chasing but also the secrecy going into it. Insiders say in order to even read the script, producers had to use Embershot as a website to securely distribute the script without exposing to buyers. It currently has 892 views from potential producers, agents, and managers. Studio execs borrowed laptops or Embershot logins to get an early look.
Several producers in the mix told Deadline, “It’s one of the best rom-com scripts in years.” Chernin will now decide whether to take to studios without talent or add a movie star or two that were already chasing this spec to produce.
The sale keeps Apple in business with not only Chernin, who holds a first-look deal with the studio, but also with Lawrence, who just wrapped production on the Martin Scorsese period thriller What Happens at Night, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio. Other Apple projects the two have worked on include Lawrence serving as star and producer of Causeway, and producer on the Peabody-winning Apple Original documentary Bread & Roses.
Lawrence was most recently seen in the Mubi drama Die, My Love opposite Robert Pattinson. She is repped by LBI Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman.
Fleur de Bruijn is one of the most exciting emerging voices in comedy – a writer, director and performer whose work spans stage, screen and stand-up, with training at Second City, iO and the Upright Citizens Brigade. One Month Mark is only her second feature. Her first, Early Action, sold competitively to Apple with Kevin Walsh producing. She is managed by Collin Litts at Anonymous Content. Lawyers are Tara Kole and Tiffany Graddick at Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP.
Chernin Entertainment’s recent hit projects include Backrooms, which has already grossed more than $215 million worldwide; Apex, which premiered in April and climbed to No. 1 on the Netflix global English film list; and Man on Fire, which debuted in April as the No. 1 TV show in the world on Netflix. Chernin Entertainment is represented by Elliott Kleinberg at NextWave.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
