Latest in Bill Block

UPDATED with more insight: The horror franchise reboot craze which Hollywood reaped off during the early part of the millennium looked as good as dead last year. Than this weekend, Universal/Miramax/Blumhouse’s Halloween, the 11th sequel in a 40-year-old franchise, opened to $76.2M, making it the best start ever for…

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX; Richard Shepard’s Miramax horror-thriller-drama hybrid The Perfection has been acquired by Netflix for all global rights. Netflix plans to release the title worldwide next year. Deadline hears the acquisition deal was in the high…

EXCLUSIVE: In a bold buy for the freshly recapitalized Miramax Films, Miramax CEO Bill Block has closed a $30M + world rights deal and committed to finance Toff Guys, the next film that Guy Ritchie will direct. Deadline broke news last week that Ritchie was heading toward a return to the style of inherently British…

Former Sony digital exec Robert Osher has rejoined Miramax as its Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. He will oversee the company’s new task force focusing on growing its strategy in film, TV, and mergers & acquisitions. During his seven years as President of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, SPA produced…

EXCLUSIVE: Hot on the heels of its Toronto domestic rights sale of I, Tonya to 30WEST and Neon, Miramax Films has acquired The Perfection, which will be the next film directed by The Matador and Dom Hemingway helmer Richard Shepard. Shepard wrote the script with Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder. Pic is a horror-thriller…

Miramax, which has been undergoing a reorganization under the helm of Bill Block, has laid off about 20 film service and delivery lab employees. The new CEO had laid off about 25 employees in May which included nearly the entire TV and film staffs including the well-respected production head Zanne Devine. The company…

EXCLUSIVE: Miramax has pre-emptively picked up the action comedy script The Armstrongs, the first major spec and first major deal brought into the company since it went through major executive changes earlier this year. The Armstrongs is said to be in the vein of Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets Taken and explores the…

EXCLUSIVE: From the veranda of their suite on the Croisette, beIn Media Group founder Nasser al-Khelaifi, his general counsel Sophie Jordan and new Miramax CEO Bill Block had a message for Hollywood as it wonders what to expect from a once-heralded film label under new ownership. "Our message is that Miramax is back,"…

EXCLUSIVE: Miramax CEO Bill Block this afternoon has engaged in a substantial housecleaning that sources said will result in the layoffs of almost the entire television and film staffs at Miramax. That means 25 or possibly more of the company’s roster of 100+ staffers are losing their jobs today, a number that I’ve…

BREAKING: Miramax today has named Bill Block its Chief Executive Officer. He will oversee a reboot that will put the library-based company squarely back into the film and TV production businesses. The appointment was made by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the Chairman of beIN Media Group and Miramax. Al-Khelaifi, a Qatar…

EXCLUSIVE: STX Entertainment’s STXfilms has boarded worldwide rights to the action thriller Black Hole with San Andreas-helmer Brad Peyton directing. STXinternational is introducing Black Hole to distributors this week in Berlin. The project marks yet another notch in STX’s belt as it continues to expand its global…

BREAKING: Bill Block’s Billblock Media has closed a two-year, first-look production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, which now will handle global distribution for all of the company’s titles. The first film in development is director Sam Raimi's near-future feature World War 3, which is based on predictions in George…