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03-01-2009, 08:33 AM
Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired "The Other Guys," a spec pitch package for an Adam McKay-directed action comedy that will team Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as cops.
Chris Henchy and McKay will write the script.
Pic will be a co-production between Gary Sanchez Prods. and Mosaic. Sony has not set a release date on the film, but it is expected to go into production as quickly as the filmmakers can get it ready.
The comedy was pitched around town Tuesday by Endeavor and CAA, and Sony co-president Matt Tolmach moved quickly. Tolmach was comfortable committing to a film without a finished script because Columbia worked in the same fashion on "Talladega Nights" and "Step Brothers," both of which were set up with a pitch and the collaborative track record of McKay and Ferrell.
"Talladega Nights," which cost around $72 million, grossed $148 million domestically in 2006, and "Step Brothers," which cost around $65 million, grossed $100 million for Columbia Pictures in 2008.
The newcomer to this equation is Henchy, but he has ties to all the participants. He co-wrote "Land of the Lost," the Universal summer comedy that stars Ferrell. Henchy works for McKay and Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Prods., where he is co-executive producer of the GSP-produced HBO sitcom "East Bound & Down."
Henchy previously spent several seasons as co-executive producer of "Entourage," the HBO series on which Wahlberg is executive producer with Doug Ellin and Stephen Levinson.
A McKay-Ferrell comedy is a departure for Wahlberg, who stars next in the Peter Jackson-directed drama "The Lovely Bones."
Chris Henchy and McKay will write the script.
Pic will be a co-production between Gary Sanchez Prods. and Mosaic. Sony has not set a release date on the film, but it is expected to go into production as quickly as the filmmakers can get it ready.
The comedy was pitched around town Tuesday by Endeavor and CAA, and Sony co-president Matt Tolmach moved quickly. Tolmach was comfortable committing to a film without a finished script because Columbia worked in the same fashion on "Talladega Nights" and "Step Brothers," both of which were set up with a pitch and the collaborative track record of McKay and Ferrell.
"Talladega Nights," which cost around $72 million, grossed $148 million domestically in 2006, and "Step Brothers," which cost around $65 million, grossed $100 million for Columbia Pictures in 2008.
The newcomer to this equation is Henchy, but he has ties to all the participants. He co-wrote "Land of the Lost," the Universal summer comedy that stars Ferrell. Henchy works for McKay and Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Prods., where he is co-executive producer of the GSP-produced HBO sitcom "East Bound & Down."
Henchy previously spent several seasons as co-executive producer of "Entourage," the HBO series on which Wahlberg is executive producer with Doug Ellin and Stephen Levinson.
A McKay-Ferrell comedy is a departure for Wahlberg, who stars next in the Peter Jackson-directed drama "The Lovely Bones."