On Wednesday, Alcon Media Group received a bid for $417.5 million to accumulate the Village Roadshow movie library, which incorporates 108 titles and the rights to some main franchise movies, together with “The Matrix,” “Wonka,” “Mad Max: Fury Highway,” the “Ocean’s” movies, the “Sherlock Holmes” sequence, “Joker,” “Prepared Participant One,” and extra.
All these movies and others had been the product of a dependable and profitable co-production and co-financing deal Village Roadshow had with Warner Bros. Footage courting again to 1997, all earlier than Village Roadshow’s chapter and an unsightly authorized combat that continues over the choice to place “The Matrix Resurrections” onto HBO Max day-and-date with theaters again in 2021.
Maybe inexplicably, Warner Bros. didn’t win the rights to that library themselves, placing the studio within the unlucky place to want to accomplice with a brand new firm transferring ahead. So what occurs to these franchises now?
Alcon is behind a number of Denis Villeneuve movies like “Blade Runner 2049,” “Prisoners,” and “Arrival,” movies like “Insomnia” and “The Blind Aspect,” and it additionally most just lately made the “Garfield” film for Sony and is engaged on the “Blade Runner 2099” sequence for Amazon. With the addition of the Village Roadshow library, it offers Alcon one of many largest movie libraries for an impartial movie firm (Lionsgate excluded), roughly 150 titles.
Whereas Alcon isn’t right now a accomplice with Warner Bros., it’s attainable they quickly might be. Alcon acquired the Village Roadshow library, spinoff rights, and money circulate with their bid. It’s nonetheless only a 50 % stake, however a press launch asserting the information says the library generates roughly $50 million yearly. Not too shabby. So to make another follow-up or sequel primarily based on one among these movies within the library, each Warner Bros. and Alcon now should agree upon it.
Why then did Warner Bros. not decide up the Village Roadshow library itself? A supply instructed IndieWire Alcon is basically simply getting the participations and the bare copyrights to these Village Roadshow movies, and WB nonetheless owns the distribution rights to these franchises, so it determined to not pursue buying the library.
One other supply although says WB did make a bid — and was outbid — by Alcon. It stands to cause that WBD, with $37 billion nonetheless in debt, can’t afford to throw round a lot money, even when it will repay in the long run.
Alcon as soon as upon a time had a uncommon put cope with Warner Bros., one which produced as many as three movies a 12 months for smaller motion pictures like “Dolphin Story,” however that was the outdated Warner Bros., and that is the David Zaslav-run Warner Bros. Discovery. Instances have modified, and WBD should have a say within the matter.
Puck famous Thursday that Warner Bros. may contest the spinoff rights to the Village Roadshow library, and {that a} listening to may happen this summer season (Warner Bros. had no touch upon rumors of a listening to).
But when Warner Bros. can’t win again the spinoff rights in court docket, you’d think about it and Alcon must come to some form of deal in the event that they ever wished to make one more “Matrix” or “Ocean’s” movie, each of which WB already has tasks within the works. Would Warner Bros. ever flip the distribution rights to one among these massive franchises over to a different studio if the proper supply got here alongside and Alcon wished to power its hand? Who is aware of. However we’ll be stunned if this marriage lasts so long as the Village Roadshow one did.