Relativity Media’s bankruptcy has stranded seven completed movies until the completion of a byzantine auction/sale process for Ryan Kavanaugh‘s 11-year-old studio, TheWrap has learned.
The films include two that have not been widely reported: the Lake Bell–Jon Bernthal L.A. gangster movie “Shot Caller,” and six-time Oscar-nominated director James Sheridan’s Irish drama “The Secret Scripture” starring Rooney Mara and Theo James.
They join the Nicholas Hoult thriller “Collide,” previously called “Autobahn,” which lead financier IM Global is seeking to reclaim through recent legal filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
“Shot Caller” was poised to be a feature breakout for Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays a reformed gangster forced back into crime after he’s released from prison. “Scripture” follows an elderly woman (played in younger years by Mara) who writes her autobiography from a mental hospital.
In addition, four other Relativity films were the subject of RKA Film Financing’s aggressive attempt to reclaim $115 million in P&A loans from the company: the Halle Berry thriller “Kidnap,” the Kristen Wiig–Zach Galifianakis comedy “Masterminds,” the Kate Beckinsale drama “The Disappointments Room” and the Kate Bosworth thriller “Before I Wake.”
It’s unclear what the status of these four films is since they were excluded from the most recent court filings as assets of Relativity, which were released after RKA withdrew its legal objections to the company’s bankruptcy plan. It’s worth noting that RKA had sought to seize the prints as collateral to settle its legal motion against Kavanaugh’s studio.
Representatives for Relativity and RKA did not respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
Interestingly, “Collide” is the only Relativity title that still appears on the official release calendar. And while it’s unlikely that the scheduled October 30 release date will hold, the continuation on the slate suggests the thriller may be Relativity’s top priority should it emerge from the bankruptcy process as a viable distributor.
At the moment, though, all seven films appear to be in a state of limbo until the resolution of Relativity’s financial assets in an expected sale-at-auction next month to a stalking-horse group made up of senior lenders Anchorage Capital, Falcon Investments and Luxor Capital for $250 million.
Two films managed to escape from Relativity’s slate before Ryan Kavanaugh‘s studio filed for Chapter 11 on July 30: the Natalie Portman Western “Jane Got a Gun” was released back to its producer, Boies/Schiller Film Group (backed by power attorney David Boies) and the Sundance hit “The Bronze,” was just rescued by Sony Pictures Classics, though it currently has no release date.