Paramount Pictures’ First Move: Winning Bidding War for Hot James Mangold, Timothée Chalamet Movie Package ‘High Side’
- Paramount Pictures has acquired the feature package "High Side" from director James Mangold and star Timothee Chalamet, a biker thriller based on an original story by Jaime Oliveira.
The new Paramount Pictures is already making a flex.
Coming out in a competitive situation, the now Skydance-owned studio has picked up High Side , the hot feature package from director James Mangold and star Timothée Chalamet.
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The project reunites the duo after their collaboration on the Academy Award-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. Mangold is attached to direct High Side , a biker thriller, with Chalamet attached to star.
Peter Chernin and David Ready are attached to produce on behalf of Chernin Entertainment alongside Mangold.
High Side is based on an original, unpublished story by Jaime Oliveira, who is also adapting the screenplay.
"We're thrilled to be in business with visionary artists like James and Timothée, and exceptional collaborators like Peter and David at Chernin," said Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Paramount Pictures, in a statement. "What Jaime has created reflects the kind of bold, original storytelling we're committed to championing at Paramount – and we couldn't be more excited to hit the ground running with High Side ."
Described as Heat meets Hell or High Water , High Side tells of a former MotoGP racer. Haunted by a career-ending crash and a family legacy of abandonment, he is drawn back into the world of high-speed risks and extreme danger when his estranged brother, already being pursued by the FBI, recruits him for a series of bank robberies on superbikes.
"David, Dana, and Josh display a real commitment to original, story-driven filmmaking on the big screen and this passion made it easy for Timothée, Peter, and me to land on this project," stated Mangold. "Timothée is a trusted collaborator, a generational artist and a person I adore. I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and work together again."
The project reunites Chernin with Mangold after the collaborations on Ford vs Ferrari , which Mangold directed, and The Greatest Showman, on which Mangold served as an exec producer.
It's unclear where the project will land on the filmmaker's busy schedule, who is developing a Swamp Thing for DC as well as a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm.
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