Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s mysterious genre project has a home.
Warner Bros. won a heated bidding war for the film, starring Jordand and directed by Coogler. Sony and Universal were also said to be in the running for the film that the team wanted to get a traditional theatrical release. Variety first broke the news.
Prior to Variety’s report, Deadline had read some tea leaves that alleged that Coogler and Jordan’s genre project is a vampire film; at the bottom of the Deadline article, one of the article’s tags reads, “Vampire Movie Auction.”
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter stated, “Details are being kept hush-hush, but according to sources, the project has been described as a period thriller (some have said it takes place in the Jim Crow-era South) involving the undead. Some sources have said it also contains anime influences — Jordan is known to be a massive fan — but it is unclear how those influences are weaved into the project.”
Before Warner Bros. nabbed the rights, it was reported that Coogler would start production on the film this summer.
Coogler will direct the untitled genre film and produce with his wife and producing partner, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian. Rebecca Cho of Proximity Media will executive produce. The film also reunites Coogler and Jordan, who worked together in Black Panther, the Creed franchise and in Coogler’s breakout film Fruitvale Station, in which Jordan starred.
When Coogler first announced the original genre film, news also came out that the film was so secretive that prospective buyers would have to meet with Coogler and Jordan at the WME offices, which represents both Coogler and Jordan. After hearing the proposal and vision, then studios would be able to make an offer.