Prolific independent entertainment studio IM Global has signed a first look feature film deal with Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil, it was announced today by IM Global Founder and CEO Stuart Ford. The company will be run by an executive team of Depp, Christi Dembrowski, Sam Sakar and Stephen Deuters.
The deal was negotiated shortly before the recent Cannes Film Festival, in tandem with IM Global’s commitment to finance and co-produce Depp’s next film, RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE, one of the market’s hottest titles. Comedy drama RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE is written and will be directed by Wayne Roberts (Katie Says Goodbye). Production is set to start this summer and is being produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Sinister, Midnight Special, Loving) of Automatik, and IM Global President of Production, Academy Award® winner Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) with Ford and Depp executive producing.
Announcement of the deal coincides with Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales crossing over the $600 million mark at the global box office, with north of $160 million in China alone.
Ford said: “Johnny is of course a globally recognized superstar but, as importantly, we at IM Global love Infinitum Nihil’s idiosyncratic and taste-driven view of the movie-making world and the unique brand that Johnny, Christi and their team have developed. We’re building this relationship in order to generate great movies for the global audience with a like-minded creative partner, and with IM Global’s reputation as a company that has enjoyed frequent success greenlighting bold films outside of the confines of the major studio system I feel certain that our newly extended filmmaking partnership with Infinitum Nihil will be a fruitful one.”
IM Global’s relationship with Infinitum Nihil began last year when IM Global Television announced that it was developing a music driven television drama series about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio based on Rick Hall’s autobiography “The Man From Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame,” with Infinitum Nihil as producers along with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Produced.
After shooting RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE for IM Global, Depp will reprise his role as the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel. He next stars in the crime thriller Labyrinth, for Open Road, as a detective who investigates the Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. murders, and follows this up with Fox’s Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Kenneth Branagh and joined by Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Pena.
The IM Global first-look feature film deal was negotiated by Shapiro and Deborah Zipser, General Counsel, on behalf of IM Global, and by CAA on behalf of Depp. CAA is also handling the domestic distribution rights to RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE.