Chris Ottinger: Celebs Rumors

After being announced at Cannes as a sales title this past summer, Miramax’s “The Beekeeper,” directed by David Ayer and starring Jason Statham, has been acquired by MGM for theatrical distribution in the U.S., as well as select international territories.MGM, Statham and Miramax recently teamed on Guy Ritchie’s hardboiled heist film “Wrath of Man.” Jason Statham and Kurt Wimmer will produce alongside Bill Block for Miramax and Chris Long for Cedar Park Studios.Written by Wimmer, “The Beekeeper” follows “one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers,” according to the official synopsis. Statham is, undoubtedly, the one man.“Having collaborated with David on prior films ‘Fury’ and ‘Sabotage,’ and with Jason on ‘Wrath of Man’ and ‘Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre,’ I’m delighted to bring this remarkable team together for such an exciting project, written by the brilliant Kurt Wimmer,” Block said in an official statement.In an official statement MGM’s President Distribution and Acquisitions Chris Ottinger said, “We are excited to partner again with Bill Block and Miramax on this incredibly fresh and exciting film from writer Kurt Wimmer and director David Ayer starring Jason Statham. With ‘Wrath of Man,’ we’ve proven that our dynamic releasing model can be incredibly successful, and we are looking forward to even better results with ‘The Beekeeper.’”Statham, whose blockbusters have grossed more than $6.8 billion worldwide, will star.

Amazon Studios is launching the Amazon MGM Studios Distribution division, which will oversee licensing of Amazon Original titles and MGM new release and library movies and series such as film franchises “James Bond,” “Rocky “and “Creed,” and series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Vikings,” “Fargo” and the upcoming “Hotel Cocaine” from MGM+.  Titles at launch will include television series like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Goliath” and “Hunters” and films like “Coming 2 America, “”Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “7500,” “All the Old Knives,” “Bliss,” “I Want You Back,” “The Tender Bar,” “The Tomorrow War,” “The Voyeurs,” and “Without Remorse.” MGM’s storied library houses more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, including 180 Academy Awards winners and 100 Emmy Awards winners.The division will be helmed by Chris Ottinger, who has led the distribution team at MGM for more than a decade.

Amazon Studios is launching Amazon MGM Studios Distribution.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Original Amazon series like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will be sold off-platform to third parties for the first time, the company announced Monday as it launched the new Amazon MGM Studios Distribution. A revamp of MGM’s pre-existing distribution team, the division will now handle Amazon Studios/Prime Video originals in addition to current and library titles. Chris Ottinger, who led the MGM distribution team for more than a decade, will oversee the new division. Ottinger will report to Brad Beale, the VP of worldwide licensing and distribution at Amazon and MGM Studios; Beale, in turn, reports to Amazon/MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorMGM has picked up the remaining offshore territories for Bill & Ted Face the Music from Endeavor Content.The Orion movie opens on Aug. 14 stateside.The new deal adds France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Scandinavia, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Hungary, Turkey, Benelux, Bulgaria, Singapore and Romania to MGM’s previous international swath of Germany, Greece, Latin America and the Middle East.“Bill & Ted Face the Music  is the perfect dose of fun and nostalgia and universally relatable in its message to ‘be excellent to each other,’” said MGM International Distribution and Acquisitions head Chris Ottinger.