After making The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel, filmmaker Osgood Perkins joined forces with the production and distribution company Neon to bring his fourth film, Longlegs into the world. That film was a major success, earning $128 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of less than $10 million, making it Neon’s highest-grossing release – and by the time it was released, Perkins and Neon were already working on their next collaboration, the Stephen King adaptation The Monkey. That one wasn’t as successful as Longlegs, but it still did well, and earlier this month, Perkins and his producing partner Chris Ferguson launched their production banner Phobos with backing from Neon, signing a first-look deal with the company. Deadline reported that, “under the first-look deal, Neon will house films that Perkins writes and directs, as well as those he produces for other filmmakers. Neon will release the features theatrically in the U.S. and represent the international rights. Perkins will continue to work with producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones of Range.” Now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider of TheInSneider.com hears that one project Perkins would really like to make as part of his Neon deal is a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie!
Two months ago, it was revealed that Legendary Pictures, the company behind the 2022 Texas Chainsaw Massacre film that was released through the Netflix streaming service, had let their rights to make new films in the franchise lapse, so Verve, which currently represents the rights, are looking to “build out a multimedia strategy” for the franchise, with filmmakers, producers, and buyers looking to get involved. It was said that writer/director JT Mollner (Strange Darling) and producer Roy Lee (It) were among the interested parties, with actor Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) hoping to read the script if the project ended up in Mollner’s hands. Mollner quickly distanced himself from the whole thing, but Sneider hears that Lee is still “in hot pursuit” of the rights… and Perkins wants Neon to put up a strong fight for them as well.
As Sneider points out, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre rights are held by a company called Exurbia Films, which is run by Kim Henkel, the co-writer of the original movie, his son, Ian Henkel, and a producer named Pat Cassidy, who bills himself as the “curator” of the TCM franchise on Instagram. Exurbia made $2.75 million from the rights deal that resulted in the 2022 film, and are reportedly hoping to get $3 million for the new deal. According to Sneider and his sources, Perkins is “pushing Neon CEO Tom Quinn to purchase the rights and commit $25 million toward the project. I’m told that Quinn wants to appease Perkins, while Jason Wald, Neon’s VP of Production, wants to appease his boss, though he’s skeptical of the Texas Chainsaw brand.” One thing holding back the Perkins / Neon deal is the fact that Perkins already has his next two movies lined up, so he wouldn’t be able to focus on a Texas Chainsaw movie for a while. Exurbia wants to get a new movie into production as quickly as possible… and they also hope to have a lot of creative input, which a lot of potential buyers wouldn’t want to give them.
Cassidy is also looking into ways to expand the Texas Chainsaw brand via television, podcasts, and comic books.
When the first-look deal with Osgood Perkins was announced, Neon CEO Tom Quinn said, “There’s only one Osgood Perkins — fearless, deeply imaginative, relentlessly funny and operating on a frequency that’s all his own. His work lingers with you, burrows into your brain as all great art does. With Neon as his creative home, Oz will continue to cook, pushing the boundaries of his ever-expanding cinematic universe.“
While we wait to find out whether or not Neon will secure the Texas Chainsaw Massacre rights for Osgood Perkins, we know that Neon will be releasing Perkins’ next horror film, Keeper, soon – possibly this October.
Would you like to see a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie from Osgood Perkins and Neon? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
The post Rumor: Osgood Perkins wants to make a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie for Neon appeared first on JoBlo.
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