Mediawan Pictures CEO Elisabeth d’Arvieu stopped by Deadline’s Zurich Studio this weekend to talk about her company’s growing Hollywood footprint following the acquisition of a majority stake in Brad Pitt’s Plan B and backing of Florian Zeller’s Blue Morning Pictures, which has offices in Paris and L.A.
The French exec – who oversees cinema and animation at the Paris-based media conglom – was among some 100 top European and Hollywood film professionals attending the Zurich Film Festival’s annual industry meeting, the Zurich Summit, on Saturday.
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D’Arvieu explained that Mediawan’s tie-up with Plan B, which was made official in early 2023, was part of a strategy to build a bridge between Europe and the U.S..
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“At the creation of Mediawan, the idea was to create a European studio that would serve European creation, helping European directors and writers reach an international student audience,” she said.
“When our productions became more and more ambitious, we realized that we really needed a U.S. partner, the U.S. being the biggest market, and we looked carefully and were lucky to meet with the plan B team, who shared a common vision.”
Some 18 months into the partnership, a number of projects are cooking including the U.S. remake of the German hit Weekend Rebels.
Inspired by the true story of a father who forges a special bond with his autistic son through the search for a perfect soccer club, the original film was produced by Wiedemann & Berg Film, a subsidiary of Germany’s Leonine Studios, which Mediawan acquired in April.
Retitled Weekend Warriors, the story will now be set against the backdrop of NBA championships, with Mark Wahlberg attached to play the father.
Apple Original Films has gotten behind the feature, which will be produced by Plan B and LeBron James’ The SpringHill Company, which also recently announced a partnership with Mediawan.
D’Arvieu said other projects are also bubbling.
“We are also developing Spanish films with them… French and English TV series with them and also created the joint venture with Kevin McDonald on documentaries based in UK. So it’s just the beginning,” said d’Arvieu.
Watch the full interview in the video above.