Following the strike, it’s like the floodgates have been opened and cash is flowing like water. In more evidence that studios are willing to drop some major coin right now, two major projects with big stars have landed in the hands of Netflix and Amazon Studios, and spending big money means launching big plans.
The first is Netflix, which sealed a 7-figure deal for a Ryan Reynolds’ untitled global heist comedy, said to be an ensemble in the vein of Ocean’s Eleven. The film will have a script by Dana Fox (The Lost City) and reunite Reynolds with producer Simon Kinberg. Reynolds and Kinberg are working together right now to complete Deadpool 3, and have been working together on that X-franchise since the beginning. Details on the story are slim, but it’s said to have an international, globe-hopping element, and was cooked up by Fox and Kinberg then pitched to Reynolds. This also cements Reynolds’ relationship with Netflix. They’ve found success together already on Red Notice and The Adam Project.
On the other hand, Amazon is plotting a theatrical release for Best of Enemies, a spy package that will star Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale. Amazon MGM Studios won high-stakes bidding war with eight studios vying for the project, just as with the Reynolds film won by Netflix. This one is basically an American Hustle reunion, with Cooper and Bale joined by that political film’s writer, Eric Warren Singer. Singer adapts Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War by Eric Dezenhall and Gus Russo. The story centers on a CIA agent and KGB operative who became close friends during the Cold War, even as they are tasked with seducing the other into betraying their country.
It’s possible that Cooper, following A Star is Born and Maestro, could direct Best of Enemies as his next project. But that has yet to be decided.
