Netflix has successfully outbid multiple contenders and is finalizing a global deal for the Natalie Portman-led romantic comedy Good Sex, with the pact valued at around $55 million.
While the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin didn’t see many headline-grabbing deals, there has been significant activity behind the scenes, and this deal stands as one of the largest to come out of the market.
According to Deadline, Good Sex sparked a bidding frenzy earlier this month, with major players such as Warner Bros, Amazon, Apple, and Netflix all vying for the project.
Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman is attached to star in this highly anticipated project, which is written and will be directed by Golden Globe winner Lena Dunham (Girls). CAA Media Finance and Film Nation Entertainment were responsible for launching the project ahead of the market.
The story taps into a current trend. Following the success of Babygirl and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, age-gap romances are particularly popular, and in Good Sex, Portman’s character explores a romance with a younger man. Buyers we’ve spoken to have praised the script.
The film’s synopsis reads: “After spending a decade in a failed relationship, successful couples’ therapist Ally (Portman) is turning 40 and is pushed, kicking and screaming, by her best friend back into the hopeless New York dating scene. But Ally finds her life pulled in opposing directions as she falls into a steamy fling with a 20-something Brooklyn hipster just as she begins a promising, more conventional relationship with Alan, a successful 50-something in Manhattan. As a romantic crossroads blossoms into a full-blown identity crisis, Ally juggles to keep these two very different men separate and to make sense of her own conflicting desires before she risks losing them both.” Casting for the two male leads is currently underway.
Portman, along with Sophie Mas, will produce through their company MountainA, while Dunham and Michael Cohen will produce under their Good Thing Going banner. Portman has previously expressed her admiration for Dunham as a filmmaker, having been inspired by Tiny Furniture.
The final bid for the project far exceeds its initial budget—more than double that amount, even before considering the tax breaks from a planned New Jersey shoot. This deal comes close to the EFM record set in 2022, when Sony paid around $60 million for Tom Hanks‘ A Man Called Otto, although Good Sex surpasses that figure when factoring in tax incentives.
Portman, known for her roles in Black Swan and May December, also has Guy Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth and Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist in post-production. Meanwhile, Girls creator Dunham is finishing work on the Netflix mini-series Too Much, starring Will Sharpe and Megan Stalter.
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