Annapurna Rescue Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney Biopic With Christian Bale After Paramount Drop It

There’s a new big dog in the distribution game, and it’s Annapurna. Megan Ellison was already greeted as a sort of savior of movies when her company financed “The Master,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher” and “20th Century Women” – films that might otherwise have failed to get made. But now the cinephile heiress has moved into distribution as well.

Similar game-changing upstarts like A24 and Neon might have had reason to worry, but the company’s moves since announcing their shift into putting movies out have made it clear that Ellison sees her company as competing with major studios: first they revealed that they were putting out  Kathryn Bigelow’s bigger-budget “Detroit,” then it emerged that they’re bidding for the rights to release the next James Bond film.

READ MORE: Supercut Celebrates The Cinema Of Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures

And now, they’ve come in to rescue Adam McKay’s biopic of Dick Cheney, which Paramount had apparently let go of in recent weeks after a change of management. The move is part of a three-year deal with Brad Pitt’s Plan B, that will see Annapurna release at least three films per year from the company behind “Moonlight,” “The Lost City Of Z,” “12 Years A Slave” and more. Read the full press release below.

Los Angeles, CA (May 04, 2017) – Plan B Entertainment, the Academy Award®-winning production company behind the most recent Best Picture-winner MOONLIGHT, has signed a three-year production deal with Annapurna, it was announced today. Annapurna will handle marketing and distribution efforts for Plan B’s upcoming film releases and will be partnering on at least three films per year. Led by actor and producer Brad Pitt and co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Plan B joins Annapurna’s expanding operation, which recently launched its full-service marketing and distribution operation.

As part of the deal, Plan B’s untitled Dick Cheney biopic, will move with the company to Annapurna. The project reunites the company with THE BIG SHORT’s award-winning director and co-writer Adam McKay and stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Steve Carrell. McKay is also producer on the film alongside his Gary Sanchez partners Will Ferrell and Kevin Messick.

Over the past decade plus, Plan B has produced a diverse slate of critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, including MOONLIGHT, THE BIG SHORT, SELMA, TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE, THE NORMAL HEART, WORLD WAR Z, EAT PRAY LOVE, and THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD.

Their film, LOST CITY OF Z, is currently in release from Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street, with WAR MACHINE and OKJA forthcoming for Netflix on May 26th and June 28th, respectively, and the latter debuting in competition at Cannes later this month. Plan B moves to Annapurna after a stint at New Regency, where they produced the Academy Award®-nominated THE BIG SHORT. Though their pact ended in January, the company’s project AD ASTRA, directed by James Gray and starring Pitt, will stay with New Regency.

“We’re excited and honored to be working with Plan B in this new partnership. We have always admired their taste and quality of producing since we met six years ago, and we could not be more thrilled for the possibilities ahead,” said Annapurna’s Founder and CEO Megan Ellison and President of Film Chelsea Barnard.

“We are very excited to find a home with Megan and Annapurna, who are like-minded in their commitment to backing and curating passionate films and filmmakers. We look forward to working closely with Annapurna’s stellar team,” added Plan B.

This is the first such pact for Annapurna since announcing their expansion into marketing and distribution.