Will Smith’s Overbrook & Virgin Produced Ink Deal For ‘After Earth’ Sequel & Other Projects
The tie-up is a non-exclusive pact that will see Virgin Produced have the option to co-finance, co-produce and co-market a sequel to Columbia’s dystopian sci-fi pic with Will Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook. That’s of course if a sequel is warranted after the pic’s May 31 release. The deal means Virgin will also support the upcoming tentpole starring Smith and his son Jaden Smith and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, with those initiatives to be announced soon. The companies said that going forward they will look to develop film and TV properties together, in which Virgin Produced would co-produce and market across its expansive global platforms. In After Earth, a crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help. Those themes of family and Earth’s vulnerability drew the companies together. “As a company, we saw the opportunity to team up with one of the industry’s leading film and television production companies that also embraces this mission”, Virgin co-founder Jason Felts said in the deal announcement. “That’s why we’re excited to partner with Overbrook on future films.”
http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/will-smiths-overbrook-virgin-produced-ink-deal-for-after-earth-sequel-other-projects/