Latest in Peter Schlessel

FilmDistrict has hired Lia Buman to be executive vice president of acquisitions for FilmDistrict. She will report to Adrian Alperovich, FilmDistrict’s president of acquisitions and operations. Buman was veep at Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, where she worked for FilmDistrict chief Peter Schlessel. Buman helped…

EXCLUSIVE: In a low-seven-figure minimum guarantee deal, FilmDistrict has acquired U.S. rights to Only God Forgives, a drama that will reteam Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn with Ryan Gosling. Several distributors were in the mix, but FilmDistrict’s Peter Schlessel had an edge because Refn was pleased with the way…

EXCLUSIVE: There has been much speculation over whether Jennifer Lopez will return for another season as judge on American Idol. Adding to the intrigue: she is in talks to star in not one, but two feature films. I’m told that Lopez is in discussions to play the female lead opposite Jason Statham in Parker, the Taylor H…

EXCLUSIVE: FilmDistrict is closing a deal for U.S. distribution rights to Parker, the Taylor Hackford-directed thriller that will star Jason Statham. Production starts in early August. The John J. McLaughlin-scripted film is an adaptation of the Donald E. Westlake novel series, and Statham is playing a character that M…

Angelina Jolie’s much-discussed feature directing debut now has a title and a distributor. Graham King and his GK Films partner Tim Headington, who financed it, have placed it with their FilmDistrict shingle. FilmDistrict CEO Peter Schlessel will slot  In The Land Of Blood And Honey, the Bosnia-set drama that Jolie…

EXCLUSIVE: A frenzied Saturday auction on the Croisette has ended with FilmDistrict in final negotiations for U.S. distribution rights to Looper, the Rian Johnson-directed science fiction film that stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt and Bruce Willis. There were at least six bidders spanning major studios and…

UPDATE, 3:15 PM: FilmDistrict has confirmed its deal. The release is below the original exclusive post. EXCLUSIVE: After starting the day by acquiring the Gerard Butler soccer comedy Playing the Field…

FilmDistrict bought U.S. rights to Playing the Field, the Nu Image/Millennium Films Gabriele Muccino-directed comedy that stars Gerard Butler as a retired soccer star. His penchant for scoring off the field ruined his marriage and his relationship with his son. He returns to Virginia to win them back by coaching the…

EXCLUSIVE: In the first major deal of the American Film Market, FilmDistrict has acquired North American distribution rights to Drive, the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed adaptation of the James Sallis novel that stars Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver and is targeted for death…

Hardly surprising, Bob Berney has brought together the team he worked with at Apparition to get started at FilmDistrict, the new shingle designed to generate pics that can play in 1500 to 2000 screen runs. The shingle was started by GK Films partners Graham King and Tim Headington and GK president Peter Schlessel…

Bob Berney has finally landed. He’s the new president of Theatrical Distribution for FilmDistrict, an upstart acquisition, distribution, production and financing company launched by GK Films partners Graham King and Tim Headington, and spearheaded by GK Films president Peter Schlessel. Since this has been months in…