Renegotiate

[BluBonnet]

This project is being described as Source Code meets Phone Booth. It just might work...

Lionsgate Snaps Up Hot Action Thriller Spec ‘Renegotiate’ From Mark Townend

In a competitive situation, Lionsgate has landed Renegotiate, a high-concept action-thriller spec by Mark Townend, sources tell us.

The film centers on a troubled FBI crisis negotiator who finds himself stuck in a time loop, re-living the events of a bombing and struggling to stop it before time runs out. Think Source Code meets Phone Booth. Ric Roman Waugh and Brendon Boyea will produce for CineMachine, alongside Brian Kavanagh Jones and Fred Berger for Range, with AJ Bourscheid executive producing.

Townend’s deal is remarkable, we’re told, for a writer with no produced credits, particularly given that the script was taken out without any talent attachments. Sources described the outcome as a three-way bidding war that resulted in a mid-six-figure guaranteed fee against a low-seven-figure purchase/bonus. The script was taken out on the first Monday of April, and by Friday of that week, 20 premium production companies were chasing aggressively. Ultimately, CineMachine and Range partnered to take the project into Lionsgate, which took the script off the table at a strong offer, on a short clock.