By Sharlene Versfeld
PublishedAugust 12, 2021
EbonyLife Studios, Nigeria’s foremost media group dedicated to creating world-class and authentic African stories, and Will Packer Productions (WPP),a leading US film production company with a unique understanding of the New American Mainstream audience, have partnered to develop an untitled project based on the Bloomberg article, The Fall of the Billionaire Gucci Master, by Evan Ratliff.
The rights were won after a highly contested derby by several producers and is now set up at Universal Pictures.
Writer discussions are ongoing and progressing quickly. The globetrotting action thriller project is said to be a hybrid of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and USUAL SUSPECTS. Mo Abudu will produce for EbonyLife Studios and Will Packer and James Lopez will produce through their Will Packer Productions.
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Commenting on this feat, Mo Abudu, the CEO of EbonyLife Studious, says: “EbonyLife is uniquely positioned to ensure the depth and authenticity of this film. This is why we needed to partner with a major Hollywood producer like Will Packer Productions – they are equally invested in telling stories that resonate with our audiences. We understand the 21st century environment with its hyper-focus on status and financial wealth creating highly talented but fundamentally flawed characters like Hushpuppi, and WPP knows how to create stories with global appeal.”
Will Packer, founder of Will Packer Productions and Will Packer Media, also says, “Ten months ago Mo pitched us a rich and entertaining concept steeped in Nigerian culture that can only be told with the help of her unique perspective. Together we knew Evan’s work was the definitive telling and the perfect anchor of this saga.”
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While EbonyLife, a TV and feature film producer has created more than 5 000 hours of original programming across a variety of genres as well as seven feature films, three of which are the highest-grossing movies of all time at the Nigerian box office, Packer Productions’ work has resulted in films that have earned more than US$1 billion, with ten films that have opened at number one, including GIRLS TRIP and NIGHT SCHOOL, the top grossing comedies of 2018 and 2017. Other WPP films include THE PHOTOGRAPH, LITTLE, WHAT MEN WANT as well as RIDE ALONG 2, NO GOOD DEED, THINK LIKE A MAN TOO, RIDE ALONG, THINK LIKE A MAN, TAKERS, OBSESSED, BREAKING IN and STOMP THE YARD.
