Paramount has signed a first-look deal with Warner Music Group, giving it access to a catalog that will serve as a source for potential music biopics.
Among the famous musicians in WMG’s catalog are David Bowie, Cher, Phil Collins, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Joni Mitchell and Frank Sinatra, as well as contemporary superstars such as Charli XCX, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars and Cardi B.
As part of the multi-year deal, Paramount will work with Warner Music Group and its production partner Unigram, led by Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron, to develop each project in collaboration with the artists or their estates.
Warner Music Group is a separate company from Warner Bros. Discovery, which Paramount is seeking to complete an acquisition of by September.
“This unprecedented collaboration provides Warner Music artist and songwriters with the incredible opportunity to bring their stories, sounds, and repertoire to scripted features and animated films. This partnership finds new ways to empower iconic artists and to bring their creative worlds to the screen with music as a central character,” Ghost said.
“This collaboration with Paramount unites two forward-looking and innovative companies, and together we’re taking a fresh approach to the space. Every artist deserves to tell the stories behind their life and music in their own creative way, and we’re excited to partner with our incredible talent and world-class filmmakers to bring these stories to the big screen, growing their audiences around the world,” WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said.
The deal comes as Paramount Skydance, under the leadership of CEO David Ellison and film chiefs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, is looking to dramatically increase the studio’s film output, with the goal of fulfilling a promise of 30 films released per year after the merger with Warner Bros. is completed.
It also comes as music biopics are once again under the spotlight thanks to the strong success of Lionsgate/Universal’s “Michael,” which is on pace to break the genre’s box office record of $906 million worldwide, currently held by the 2018 Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic, starring the late pop star’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, will pass $500 million worldwide this coming weekend.
Ghost, who will serve as a lead producer on Paramount Skydance and Warner Music Group’s music biopics, is a multi-Grammy nominee who has worked with artists like Beyoncé, Shakira and John Legend. With Unigram, which she co-founded with Cameron in 2015, she has produced projects including Lee Daniels’ 2021 film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”
“We’re excited to partner with WMG and their extraordinary artists to create powerful theatrical experiences inspired by generation-defining music and talent,” Ghost added.
WMG and Unigram are represented by WME.
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