Singleton, Universal Sign Five-Picture Deal
Filed under: Action, Drama, Independent, Deals, Universal, Focus Features, Newsstand, Cinematical Indie
When Boyz n the Hood exploded onto American movie screens Thanks to his new deal with Universal, though, Singleton is suddenly in a position to act as a sort of unofficial exec: He's financing and producing a series of five low-budget ($15 million or less) films on which he'll make "all the creative decisions." According to the terms of the deal, Universal (or their genre arms, Rogue and Focus) has already agreed to market and release the films, regardless of style or content. Um, wow. Though Singleton probably couldn't have scored this deal had he not financed and produced Hustle & Flow (and not know Universal Chairman Marc Shmuger from his days at Sony, where Shmuger worked on Boyz n the Hood), he's nevertheless being given what seems to be extraordinary power here -- it'll be fascinating to see the films that come out of the deal, and how successful they are (the first, Illegal Tender, is now filming). If the series makes money, look for other studios to suddenly become interested in young black and Latino audiences.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-20-2006 @ 3:56PM
bgdc said...
While not a singleton fan I applaud this deal as a sign that some filmmakers and studios realize you don't need $150+ million (take a bow MI3, Da vinci, X3, superman) to make a movie. A profitable film is quite possible with a decent story and a low budget - especially when you consider DVD sales and rentals. This should be model for most of the studios - lots of small, cheap films.
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6-20-2006 @ 4:55PM
Neil said...
The deal seems to signify more than just a realization that cheaper movies can be more profitable.
It appears as though Hollywood is beginning to take a more proactive step in increasing the amount of multicultural representation in executive positions. What's most interesting to me about this deal is that John Singleton has promised not to make movies where people are "just talking to each other" - it appear as though these films have the potential to have a respectable amount of action (the first film has been labeled a Latino Scarface).
What I hope this deal will do is show Hollywood execs, who are often so focused on the bottom line, how respectable and lucrative African-American and Latino stories can be. Having read the article, I was happy to hear that Singleton compares his new venture to that of music video moguls like Jay-Z and Dr. Dre.
For a while now, the music industry (led by Hip-Hop Culture) has revealed the purchasing power and untapped audience of ethnic youths. Moguls like P. Diddy and Dr. Dre, just to name a few, now own their own record labels and share distribution rights with their parent company's (i.e. Arista or Interscope). Singleton's deal is similar to this structure found in the music industry.
I just hope that his films perform well enough so that other filmmakers of diverse ethnic backgrounds are given similar opportunities. His previous trackrecord (e.g. Hustle and Flow) suggests that good things lie ahead.
In the words of Jay-Z, whom John Singleton admires for his business acumen:
"The pressure's on but guess who ain't gon' crack"
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