“Saturday Night Live” director Paul Briganti is set to direct Chris Pratt in the indie comedy “The Black Belt” for Monarch Media, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.
The coming-of-age film will star Pratt as an eccentric uncle who trains his shy teenage nephew in the ways of karate. Pratt will produce the film through his banner Indivisible Productions, alongside producing partner Jon Schumache, and Monarch Media’s Steve Barnett and Alan Powell. Monarch principal Vicky Patel will executive produce and UTA Independent Film Group will oversee film sales and distribution.
Pratt and Indivisible Productions have a first look deal with Universal Pictures, which has worked with Pratt on the “Jurassic World” trilogy. Among the projects being developed by the studio is the action film “Saigon Bodyguards,” which will be produced by “Avengers: Endgame” directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
Monarch Media is developing an original country musical with Florida Georgia Line, along with military thriller “Havoc,” with South Korean filmmaker Byung-gil Jung attached to direct, and “Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell?,” a musical based on the WWII biography of a British soldier who was a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany, and are developing an English-language remake of the Spanish-language film “La Lista,” from director Alvaro Diaz Lorenzo.
Briganti’s directing credits some of the most viral segments for “SNL” which include Melissa McCarthy as former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Donald Glover in the rap video “Friendos” and most recently, Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci and David Harbour as “The Grouch.” Other directing credits include episodes of “Chad,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Adam Ruins Everything.”
Briganti is repped by UTA, Mosaic, and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
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