Universal and Timur Bekmambetov’s Bazelevs Studio Will Produce Five New Screenlife Films
Universal Pictures has signed a deal with Timur Bekmambetov’s Bazelevs Studio to produce and distribute five features shot in the screenlife format.
Universal previously worked with the filmmaker on Unfriended, Bekmambetov’s first Screenlife feature. The film grossed $65m worldwide on a $1m budget. The company has also worked with Bekmambetov in 2008 on his Hollywood debut Wanted, starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, that grossed $342m worldwide.
Bazelevs is currently working on new screenlife features R#J (a Generation Z adaptation of Romeo and Juliet) and a sequel to Searching, the John Cho-led thriller distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing that grossed $75.5m on an $880,000 budget.
Bekmambetov hopes to apply the format to several genres “from horror and thrillers to romantic comedies and sci-fi”.
Cover image: Bazelevs
