Foresight Unlimited (Foresight) has completed a multi territory deal with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (“SPWA”) on the eve of the Cannes Film Market for the legendary music entrepreneur biopic, Spinning Gold, starring Emmy and Grammy Award-winning actor/musician Justin Timberlake, it was announced today by Foresight’s CEO Mark Damon.
SPWA has acquired the rights for territories including Latin America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe (Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia and Ukraine) and Greece and is currently in talks for a number of other major markets.
The deal puts SPWA in business again with Foresight after picking up the majority of international territories on the actioner 2 Guns, starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, in one of the biggest deals struck during the European Film Market in Berlin 2012. 2 Guns is set for a wide theatrical release in the US through Universal Pictures in August.
Foresight’s CEO Mark Damon will produce Spinning Gold, alongside Timberlake, Academy Award nominated Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls, Jerry Maguire) and Boardwalk Entertainment’s Timothy Scott Bogart and Gary A. Randall. Joyce Bogart-Trabulus is executive producing along with Foresight’s President, Tamara Birkemoe and Envision Entertainment’s Remington Chase, Stepan Martirosyan and Vitaly Grigoriants. Spinning Gold is written by Timothy Scott Bogart.
“The Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions group are great partners so we are delighted to be working together again on what is going to be music extravaganza of a film,” said Mark Damon. “With the full support of Justin who will be in Cannes to meet with the international buyers on the first day of the film festival at a special event to launch the film, we feel confident ‘Spinning Gold’ is hitting all the right notes,” he continued.
Neil Bogart, a legendary music business entrepreneur, is credited with discovering, launching and nurturing the careers of a generation of music superstars during the 60’s and 70’s including Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, Gladys Knight, KISS, Parliament, Donna Summer and The Village People among many others. Featuring some of the most iconic music of the era, Spinning Gold, tells the rags-to-riches story of a poor kid from Brooklyn who went on to become the man who defined the pop music culture of his time. Neil Bogart died prematurely in 1982 at age 39.
The film is set to start shooting early next year. RCA Records will also partner on the project and will release the movie’s soundtrack, which will include generation-defining music of the 60’s and 70’s that will be re-imagined by some of today’s most influential artists, making Spinning Gold, not only a global movie event, but a major music event as well.
Spinning Gold, is written by Bogart’s son, Timothy Scott Bogart, who developed the script with Timberlake. With further casting currently underway, Timberlake will be attending Cannes to promote the film to international buyers and will co-host a private event on the Croisette for distributors with his fellow producers.
