Plan B Entertainment, the Academy Award-winning production company behind the most recent Best Picture winner Moonlight, has signed a three-year production deal with Annapurna, it was announced today. As part of the deal, Plan B’s untitled Dick Cheney biopic will move from Paramount Pictures with the company to Annapurna. The project reunites the company with The Big Short’s award-winning director and co-writer Adam McKay and stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Steve Carrell. McKay is also producer on the film alongside his Gary Sanchez partners Will Ferrell and Kevin Messick.
Annapurna will handle marketing and distribution efforts for Plan B’s upcoming film releases and will be partnering on at least three films per year. Led by actor and producer Brad Pitt and co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Plan B joins Annapurna’s expanding operation, which recently launched its full-service marketing and distribution operation.
Over the past decade plus, Plan B has produced a diverse slate of critically acclaimed and commercially-successful films, including The Big Short, Selma, The Normal Heart, World War Z, Eat Pray Love and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, as well as Best Picture Oscar winners The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight.
Their film, Lost City of Z, is currently in release from Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street, with War Machine and Okja forthcoming for Netflix on May 26 and June 28, respectively, and the latter debuting in competition at Cannes later this month. Plan B moves to Annapurna after a stint at New Regency, where they produced the Academy Award-nominated The Big Short. Though their pact ended in January, the company’s project Ad Astra, directed by James Gray and starring Pitt, will stay with New Regency.
“We’re excited and honored to be working with Plan B in this new partnership. We have always admired their taste and quality of producing since we met six years ago, and we could not be more thrilled for the possibilities ahead,” said Annapurna’s Founder and CEO Megan Ellison and President of Film Chelsea Barnard.
“We are very excited to find a home with Megan and Annapurna, who are like-minded in their commitment to backing and curating passionate films and filmmakers. We look forward to working closely with Annapurna’s stellar team,” added Plan B.
This is the first such pact for Annapurna since announcing their expansion into marketing and distribution.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
