Solstice Studios has acquired rights to “Bomb Squad,” an original pitch from Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, who previously collaborated on “Transpecos.”
“Bomb Squad” is an action-thriller about two unlikely partners who team up to stop a serial bomber whose escalating attacks are building to a catastrophic event that will kill millions and destroy America’s energy supply.
This project is the first feature film pitch Solstice Studios has purchased since it was founded in fall 2018. The pitch was brought in by senior vice president Beth Bruckner O’Brien and director of development Isabelle London, who will work with Kwedar and Bentley to develop the film for the studio.
Solstice Studios was launched with $400 million in capital, and a goal of producing three to five movies a year that are aimed at global audiences. These will usually have budgets ranging between $20 million to $80 million, an arena that major studios, most of whom are focused on comic-book movies, generally avoid. Solstice also plans to co-finance or acquire another one or two films per year for wide U.S. distribution. The company’s first theatrical release is “Unhinged,” a psychological thriller starring Russell Crowe, which opens on Sept. 4, 2020. Solstice will start production in April on Robert Rodriguez’s thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck.
The company’s senior team includes president and CEO Mark Gill, the former president of Warner Independent Pictures and Millennium Films, as well as the producer of “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” and the “Olympus Has Fallen” series. The rest of the leadership includes head of production Lisa Ellzey, co-production head Guy Botham, marketing/strategy head Vincent Bruzzese, acquisitions and international head Crystal Bourbeau, head of physical production Dana Belcastro, business and legal affairs head Karen Barna, chief financial officer Shaun Williams and head of U.S. distribution Shari Hardison.
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Kwedar and Bentley are repped by Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc. and ICM Partners.