“By the way, when you edit this, I don’t need to be saying ‘distinctive’ 500 times.”
Jeb Brody is describing the ethos behind the upcoming film slate at Imagine Entertainment, where he’s served as president of features since early 2024. And a big part of is job is trying to determine what projects are worth pursing, an especially daunting task at a time when it feels impossible to predict what’ll hit or strike out in theaters.
“The only time that people are interested in going to the movies is if there’s a certain distinction to it,” he says. “We’ve got all the content in the world on our cell phones.”
Imagine Entertainment, founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard in 1985, has several upcoming gambles that it hopes will offer a certain je ne sais quoi. Among them are Luca Guadagnino’s psychological thriller “After the Hunt,” starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival; and director David Leitch’s heist adventure “How to Rob a Bank.”
“We focus on asking, ‘Does this project have an audience that’s reachable? Is that audience going to go to theaters to see it?’” Brody says. “My theory is you want to either steer toward IP or something unique.”
“After the Hunt” falls in the latter category. Brody describes the #MeToo-themed story as a “thoughtful and complicated film about real, true, multi-dimensional human beings; their foibles, pleasures, angers and ways we get in our own way.” And he wants the Venice premiere of “After the Hunt” to spark a dialogue among festival-goers and beyond. “This movie is a conversation piece,” Brody says.
Imagine, which has a first-look deal with Amazon MGM, is also leaning into new ideas with “Whalefall,” which takes place almost entirely in the belly of a whale, and “200 Monas,” a dark comedy about women who take orgasm pills, the latter of which Brody says, is “not an old-fashioned studio movie.”
In the realm of familiar properties, Imagine is developing a movie based on the TV show “24” at Disney’s 20th Century Studios, a “Spaceballs” sequel starring Josh Gad and produced by Mel Brooks at Amazon MGM, as well as a Snoop Dogg biopic at Universal.
“We’re in the business of big IP,” Brody says. “There’s a significant understanding of what people want from them, so all we have to do is deliver. That’s never easy, but if you put the right filmmakers and creatives and the right love into it, you can get it there.”
There’s also a concerted effort at the production company to nurture rising talent, like first-time screenwriter Nora Garret (“After the Hunt”) and filmmaker Brian Duffield (“Whalefall”). “We take great pride in harnessing the 40-year legacy of Imagine to back the next wave of artists, who we believe are the future of our industry,” says Allan Mandelbaum, who works with Brody as executive VP of features.
Not every bold bet pays off. Howard’s survival thriller “Eden,” for example, struggled to find distribution after its Toronto Intl. Film Festival premiere. After mixed reviews, the $35 million-budgeted movie, starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas and Sydney Sweeney, ultimately fizzled in theaters with $1 million in its box office debut.
Brody believes his strength is that he’s seen the business from all vantage points. Before he joined the team at Imagine, he served as president of production at both Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners and Focus Features, and worked a producer, helping to develop such movies as the Sam Mendes’ war drama “1917,” the “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise and “Little Miss Sunshine.”
“I can see the different sides of the coin,” Brody says. “I was always hesitant about being a seller until I was lucky enough to become one. And then I realized, ‘Oh, those [other] skills I have are quite beneficial.’”
That adaptive mindset has been beneficial in weathering the ebbs and flows of a movie business in flux.
“On the one hand it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s never been harder.’ And on the other hand, that sentence has probably been uttered by every generation of producers or studio executives,” Brody says. “And yet, we keep making movies.”
variety.com
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