The Scoggins Report is our bi-weekly analysis of the feature film development business. The numbers in the reports are comprehensive but by no means official statistics. You can download the PDF of this week's edition here, and details on each of the people, companies and projects in the article are available to subscribers of ItsontheGrid.com, a division of TheWrap. Follow the site's Twitter feed here, and the Facebook page is here.
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The spec market saw solid numbers again in April, even if they didn’t quite live up to March’s mammoth numbers. In addition to the overall positive performance, here are the high order bits worth mulling this weekend:
• Four different companies were involved with two spec sales each last month. On the sellers’ side, Energy, Paradigm and WME each sold two scripts. Across the table, Hollywood Gang convinced two different studios (Relativity and Warner Bros.) to make purchases on its behalf.
• April saw six buyers that hadn’t bought scripts yet in 2011, including three new studios: Dimension, New Line and Relativity. That’s the first spec purchase for Dimension since April 2009, and the first spec purchase for New Line since we began tracking closely at the beginning of 2009.
There are plenty of other Easter Eggs buried below, too: Joe Eszterhas is back in the game; Meg Ryan’s attached to her hypothetical directorial debut; and specs from 2009 and 2010 found homes. Plus, you know the spec market is alive when a studio agrees to buy a Western.
Stay classy, Hollywood.
Weekly Activity Breakdown
Week of April 4:
• 8 scripts hit the tracking boards, none of which sold.
• 4 additional sales were reported (Bait and Switch, Hoof Harrington’s Greatest Hits, Into the Beautiful and Lust)
Week of April 11:
• 7 scripts hit the boards, none of which sold.
Week of April 18 (Passover):
• 9 scripts hit the boards, none of which sold.
Week of April 25 (Easter):
• 13 scripts hit the tracking boards, 1 of which sold (The Watching Hour)
• 3 additional sales were reported (Untitled Greenfield/Thomas Action Comedy, The Greys and Ness/Capone)
Spec Sales (alphabetical by title)
Bait and Switch
Writer: Matthew J. O’Neill
Reps: Innovative (Jim Stein, Michael Pio), Smart Entertainment (John Jacobs)
Buyer: Universal
Genre: Action comedy
Attachments: Stuber Pictures’ Scott Stuber will produce with Mark Wahlberg, Leverage Management’s Stephen Levinson and Smart’s John Jacobs. Smart’s Zac Unterman will executive produce.
Notes: Wahlberg is reportedly considering starring in the film as well.
Untitled Greenfield/Thomas Action Comedy
Writers: Luke Greenfield & Nicholas Thomas
Reps: APA and CAA
Buyer: Fox
Genre: Action comedy
Attachments: Greenfield (“Something Borrowed”) will direct and produce through his WideAwake banner along with Genre Films’ Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood.
