The man who built Newmarket films and then had a 50/50 track record with Picturehouse is making his comeback…”Croisette style”. The Hollywood Reporter is claiming that Bob Berney will come to Cannes (the premiere place to make any kind of big announcements) to present his new indie shingle and is according to the trade, going to announce his first pickup in what is an assured competition title in Jane Campion‘s Bright Star. According to THR, (read the full article here) Berney has apparently made a gentleman’s agreement to buy the picture.
Written by Campion, this is based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25.
In terms of financing, THR reports that coin will come via William Pohlad’s River Road Entertainment, who “is the lead candidate to finance the Berney venture.” Does this mean that Summit will make ome kind of arrangement with Berney to ensure a safe home for Terrence Malick‘s Tree of Life? One thing is for sure, we should all be glad that he is back in the game, and we should expect him to make better business decisions with a smaller slate in mind.
