Amazon Studios has bought rights from STX and MWM to Dave Bautista’s family comedy “My Spy” for exclusive streaming on Amazon Prime in the U.S. and some foreign markets.
No streaming date has been set yet. The deal takes place with U.S. movie theaters not expected to open for several more months with studios vacating most release dates until the mid-summer at the earliest.
On March 6, during the early stages of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, STX had moved the North American release date back a month to April 17 in order to take advantage of a slot that had opened up after “Trolls World Tour” moved up open on April 10. At that point, STX indicated that “My Spy,” which cost $18 million to produce, would benefit from expanded awareness.
In “My Spy,” Bautista finds himself forced to teach spycraft to a precocious 9-year-old girl, played by Chloe Coleman of “Big Little Lies.” Bautista is ordered to go undercover and surveil a family, but the daughter, played by Coleman, foils the plan by discovering the hidden cameras. She then blackmails him into teaching her how to be a spy — sealed with a pinky promise.
The film is directed by Peter Segal (“Get Smart”) from a script by the sibling writing team of Jon and Erich Hoeber (“Red”). Good Fear’s Chris Bender and Jake Weiner are producing the project alongside MWM Studios, Bautista, Segal, Jonathan Meisner and Gigi Pritzker. Rachel Shane and Adrian Alperovich serve as executive producers, while Stacy Calabrese is a co-producer, all on behalf of MWM Studios. The news was first reported by Deadline.