Village Roadshow Pictures has renewed its $US750 million film production facility, which finances films co-produced with Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and other major distributors.
Its 2016 release slate includes Grimsby, which stars Sasha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong, directed by Louis Leterrier; David Yates’ Tarzan, with Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie and Samuel L. Jackson; Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristin Wiig; and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur, featuring Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law.
Also set for next year are Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven, starring Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, and Morten Tyldum’s Passengers, with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.
The first titles confirmed for 2017 are The Equalizer 2, which will star Denzel Washington and has no director attached yet, and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, adapted from the Ernie Cline novel set in a virtual world called Oasis, in which a teenager is forced to compete in a treasure hunt against ruthless foes after the game's founder dies and offers his fortune as the grand prize.
Concurrently Village Roadshow Entertainment Group has completed a $US480 million recapitalization, including $US325 million of new capital from a consortium of worldwide investors including Vine Alternative Investments, Falcon Investment Advisors, and Village Roadshow Limited.
“This funding demonstrates the underlying strength of Village Roadshow Pictures and its longevity in the industry,” said VREG chairman and VRL co-chairman and co-CEO Graham Burke.
VREG CEO Greg Basser said, “With this new phase, we are thrilled to be moving towards our third decade of filmmaking in partnership with Warner Bros. and the start of our journey with Sony. This capital will strengthen VREG’s financial resources and our capacity to make more films.”
The facility will also support product from Village Roadshow Pictures Asia including the release of director Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry, the saga of a widow in a remote village, a mysterious mute with a story to tell and the power to tell it wordlessly.
In nearly 20 years VRP has amassed a library of 85 films which has generated more than $15 billion in global box office receipts.