Veteran producer Joel Silver has hooked up with Canadian financier Daryl Katz to independently finance a slate of feature films, television and digital projects. Longtime finance and packaging agent Hal Sadoff, who left ICM in 2012, will serve as CEO of the newly formed Silver Pictures Entertainment.
A representative for Silver declined to disclose how much Katz would be investing in the new venture.
Silver Pictures previously required studio backing to fund and develop its films. With the new partnership, Silver will have the freedom to do projects both inside and outside the studio system.
Sadoff and Silver have a longstanding relationship, having collaborated on “Gothika,” “Thirteen Ghosts” and “House on Haunted Hill.”
Katz is the founder and chairman of the Katz Group, one of Canada’s largest privately owned enterprises, with operations in pharmaceuticals, sports and entertainment and real estate.
Silver is currently developing a handful of pictures at Warners, including sequels to “Project X” and “Sherlock Holmes” as well as “Logan’s Run” and “Nice Guys,” which is currently in production and slated for a 2016 release. Silver currently does not have a first-look deal at any studio.
“Warner Bros. has successfully partnered with Joel Silver on a range of memorable pictures over the years. We’re happy to expand this relationship,” said Greg Silverman, Warner Bros. Pictures president of creative development and worldwide production.
Silver Pictures is one of the most prolific and successful production companies in motion picture history. Helmed by legendary producer Joel Silver, the company has produced more than 70 films which have grossed more than $14 billion in worldwide revenue. Silver Picture’s next release is “The Nice Guys,” written by Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi, directed by Black and starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. The highly anticipated Warner Bros. film is set for a summer 2016 release. Most recently, the company produced the action-thriller “Non-Stop,” starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Past credits include the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, garnering more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the Academy Award-winning “The Matrix” trilogy, totaling over $3 billion in worldwide revenue, the iconic blockbuster “Lethal Weapon” franchise and seminal action films “Die Hard” and “Predator.
Silver Pictures are currently in post-production on Shane Black’s detective thriller The Nice Guysstarring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling for Warner Bros. The BLOOM slate also includes: Danny Strong’sRebel in the Rye starring Nicholas Hoult and Kevin Spacey; Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next; Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s Woodshock starring Kirsten Dunst and distributed in the U.S. by A24; Liza Johnson’s Elvis & Nixon starring Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon which will be distributed in the U.S. by Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street; Michael Apted‘s Unlocked starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom; and Renny Harlin’s Skiptrace starring Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville.
BLOOM TO SELL INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS AND BLACK BEAR PICTURES TO FULLY FINANCE TWO-TIME ACADEMY AWARD WINNER GEORGE CLOONEY’S “SUBURBICON” FOR SILVER PICTURES AND SMOKEHOUSE PICTURES