A24surprised everyone in Hollywood on Wednesday, May 1, as they outbid and outplayed Amazon, Warner Bros., Netflix, and Apple to pick up a feature package.A24 supposedly spent seven figures onthe rights forCheckmate, but here’s the rub — it’s a 12-page book outline; that’s more than $83 thousand paid per page.The Hollywood Reporterspoke to people with knowledge of the deal, writing, “Offers were in the process of being made by the streamers and a studio when A24 dove in with what sources say was an offer that guaranteed seven figures, andcame in with a 30-minute timer. It was an offer that was swiftly accepted.”
“I’ve never seen A24 do that before,” said one insider, who said the deal left executives and agents' head spinning.
“I guess A24 is competing now,” said another source.
Nathan Fielderis set to directCheckmate, which will follow the contentious and controversial battle between two chess grandmasters, the older Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and the younger prodigy, Hans Niemann, who was ultimately accused of cheating during their game.Emma Stoneand her husband and producing partner under Fruit Tree, Dave McCary, are set to produce; there’s no word yet on if she (or who) will star.
The pricey outline comes from Ben Mezrich, who has some weight in the industry, having written the books behind the filmsDumb MoneyandThe Social Network. In fact, it was again just a book outline when it was sold and developed by Aarok Sorkin into that latter film. Ben Mezrich is kind of the Bill O’Reilly of economics and tech, but instead of giving a glossy dramatic sheen to history, Mezrich creates dramatic non-fiction accounts of stock markets, cryptocurrency, social media, and billionaires.
Emma Stone & Nathan Fielder Star in New Trailer for The Curse, About Marriage, HGTV, and the Supernatural
The full trailer for The Curse teases Showtime’s genre-bending series starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder.
Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone’s Last Project Was a Bizarre Masterpiece
Fielder and Stone recently collaborated with A24 (alongside Benny Safdie) on the Showtime series, The Curse. An extremely uncomfortable dramedy about husband-and-wife property developers financing a vanity project reality show for HGTV, which follows them as they create ‘sustainable’ and ‘community conscious’ programs for Española residents.
Fielder directedThe Cursein a genuinely unsettling way, tapping into the nightmarish sense of absurdity that he mastered in HBO’sThe Rehearsal.Checkmatecertainly doesn’t seem like a project fit for Fielder, who has spent his career focused on the blurred line between media and reality, and the way capitalism and power distorts both identity and intention. Whatever happens, though, we’re sure Fielder will create another unforgettable project.
