With movie theaters still shuttered across the country, audiences are looking towards streaming services for new, high-profile films led by their favorite movie stars. Obviously aware of this, the folks over at Netflix have been looking to make substantial acquisitions to pad their quarantine programming – and their efforts seem to be working.
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It’s now been reported that Netflix has procured the Ryan Reynolds-led time travel film from Paramount (not the first film Paramount has off-loaded this week, it’s a major trend for the company who seems to be in trouble). Directed by Shawn Levy (“Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Night at the Museum,” “Date Night”), the film supposedly revolves around Reynolds’s character, who is tasked with traveling back in time to team-up with the younger version of himself.
With this move to Netflix, Ryan Reynolds is seeming to become a streaming favorite, with “6 Underground” under his belt, and the upcoming films “Red Notice” and his live-action Dragon’s Lair adaptation still in the pipeline.
Although Paramount was initially involved to distribute the film, Skydance has been developing and producing the project. Skydance has recently found success with its collaboration with Netflix; their recent “The Old Guard” has been leading the conversation throughout this past week. Considering this, it doesn’t seem all too surprising why Skydance would want to continue collaborating with the streaming service. Physical production is still set to kick off in Vancouver this November.
This also isn’t the first time in recent memory that Paramount has looked towards streaming services for distribution help. In late March, almost immediately after nationwide stay-at-home orders, the distribution company sent their Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani-led “The Lovebirds” to Netflix. Shortly thereafter, Paramount tapped Apple to help fund and produce Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Looking ahead, director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds await the release of their video-game blockbuster “Free Guy,” their initial collaboration, which is still slated to hit theaters on December 11th.
