By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

Relativity Taps Breck Eisner to Helm Stretch Armstrong

Posted Thursday, July 19th, 2012 - Comments Off on Relativity Taps Breck Eisner to Helm Stretch Armstrong
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Targeted for April 11, 2014 Release

(Beverly Hills, Calif.) July 19, 2012 – Relativity Media has closed a deal with Breck Eisner (The Crazies, Sahara)to direct its upcoming live-action film based on Stretch Armstrong, it was announced today by Relativity’s President, Tucker Tooley. Relativity partnered with global branded play company Hasbro, Inc. [NASDAQ-HAS] to develop and produce the film which is targeted for an April 11, 2014 release date. Relativity will be the domestic distributor and will release the film internationally through its network of foreign output partners.
Eisner, known for directing the remake of George A. Romero’s horror movie The Crazies, will helm the film based on the script written by Dean Georgaris (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, The Manchurian Candidate). The film will be produced by Relativity’s CEO, Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter), Hasbro’s CEO Brian Goldner (Transformers) and Bennett Schneir, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Motion Pictures (Battleship). Tooley (Immortals) will serve as executive producer.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to create a world that is both fresh and exhilarating,” said Eisner. “What really excites me is the chance to build a hero from the ground up.”
“We were delighted by Breck and Dean’s innovative and creative concept for bringing this character to life.  Their unique vision for creating the mythology for this story paired with their experience gives us the confidence that they are the perfect team to bring Stretch Armstrong to the big screen,” said Tooley, President, Relativity.
This original story will be a gritty actioner introducing the character of Lucas Armstrong and the life-or-death consequences he will face after undergoing a transformation granting him superhuman abilities.
Eisner was represented by CAA, Management 360 and attorney Karl Austen of Jackoway Tyerman in his deal.
Looking ahead, the studio will release the edge-of-your seat thriller House at the End of the Street (in theatres September 21, 2012) and the hilarious comedy 21 and Over (in theatres March 15, 2013). Relativity is currently in post-production on Scott Cooper’s gritty dramatic thriller currently-titled Out of the Furnace and is in production on the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ best-selling Safe Haven (in theatres February 8, 2013).
 
ABOUT RELATIVITY MEDIA
Relativity Media is a next-generation studio engaged in multiple aspects of entertainment, including full-scale film and television production and distribution, the co-financing of major studio film slates, music publishing, sports management and digital media.  Additionally, the company makes strategic partnerships with, and investments in, media and entertainment-related companies and assets.
                                 
To date, Relativity has produced, distributed, and/or structured financing for more than 200 motion pictures.  Released films have accumulated more than $17 billion in worldwide box office receipts.  Relativity’s recent films include: The Raven, Mirror Mirror, Act of Valor, Haywire, Immortals, Tower Heist, Bridesmaids, Limitless, Hop, Cowboys & Aliens, Battle: Los Angeles, Little Fockers, The Fighter, The Social Network, Salt, Despicable Me, Grown Ups, Dear John, It’s Complicated, Couples Retreat and Zombieland. Upcoming films for Relativity include: The Bourne Legacy, House at the End of the Street and 21 and Over. Thirty-nine of the company’s films have opened to No. 1 at the box office.  Relativity films have earned 60 Oscar® nominations, including nods forThe Fighter, The Social Network, The Wolfman, A Serious Man, Frost/Nixon, Atonement, American Gangsterand 3:10 to Yuma. Sixty-two of Relativity’s films have each generated more than $100 million in worldwide box-office receipts.
RelativityREAL, Relativity’s television arm, has more than 70 projects in active production, including 17 original series that are currently airing or will air in the upcoming television season including Police Women for TLC,Coming Home for Lifetime and The Great Food Truck Race for Food Network. Relativity also owns and operates RogueLife, Relativity’s digital content studio is developing original content for the web and creating sustainable online platforms and communities. Relativity Music Group, a music division of Relativity, provides music supervision, music publishing catalogues and soundtrack services for films produced and/or distributed by Relativity Media and other major Hollywood studios. Relativity Sports is a fast-growing sports management company dedicated to providing high-profile athletes with a full-range of professional development services.  For additional information, please visit www.relativitymedia.com.
 
ABOUT HASBRO
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company providing children and families around the world with a wide-range of immersive entertainment offerings based on the Company’s world class brand portfolio.  From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, video games and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its customers through the strategic leveraging of well-known and beloved brands such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, PLAYSKOOL, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY.  The Hub, Hasbro’s multi-platform joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) launched on October 10, 2010. The online home of The Hub is www.hubworld.com. The Hub logo and name are trademarks of Hub Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserved.
Come see how we inspire play through our brands at http://www.hasbro.com. © 2012 Hasbro, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
 
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon