The iconic Hollywood actress has struck a deal with Fremantle to produce a number of films, TV Series, and documentaries. Angelina Jolie’s three-year international agreement has given the actress the greenlight to produce, direct or star in each on a case-by-case basis as she seeks to tell stories that are sophisticated, powerful, and internationally focused, including local language projects.
The first project from Jolie’s deal looks to be an adaptation of Alessandro Baricco’s international bestseller Without Blood which Jolie is set to produce and direct in Italy. The bestseller is a story about when “Manuel Roca’s enemies hunt him down to kill him, they fail to discover Nina, his youngest child, hidden in a hole beneath his farmhouse floor. After this carnage Tito, one of the murderers discovers Nina’s trapdoor. Enthralled by the sight of Nina’s perfect innocence, he keeps quiet. By the time she has grown up, Nina’s innocence will have bloomed into something else altogether, and one by one the wartime hunters will become the peacetime hunted.”
“I am excited to be working with such a passionate and forward-looking team that has an international perspective,” Jolie said. “freedom to tell important stories and bring them to a global audience” is at the heart of her three-year deal, according to Deadline.
This deal is essential in fulfilling one of Fremantle’s key growth objectives, to secure deals with top talent. The other, buying up scripted indies, was upheld yesterday with the unveiling of a 70% stake in 30-year-old Italian producer Lux Vide.
This deal has started a huge week for Fremantle. Global CEO Jennifer Mullin and Global COO Andrea Scrosati, along with Fremantle-backed De Maio Entertainment’s Lorenzo De Maio, are being credited as the minds behind the Jolie deal with the latter being a strategic partner and advisor on the project.
“Fremantle and Angelina share the passion and ambition of telling compelling stories from everywhere in the world, for everyone in the world. We embrace and support the creative independence of our partners and look forward to working with Angelina to bring powerful and unique stories to a global audience,” said Mullin.
Angelina Jolie Has Given Many Groundbreaking Performances Throughout Her Career
Jolie is an actress, a filmmaker, and a humanitarian who works with the UN Refugee agency with numerous numbers of accolades to her name. She is best known for her performances in Girl, Interrupted, Gia, Salt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Changeling. Jolie has won an Academy Award for her performance in Girl, Interrupted in which she played Lisa Rowe, a rebellious and manipulative sociopath who has been in a psychiatric hospital since she was 12. Jolie has also won three Golden Globes for her performances in George Wallace, Girl, Interrupted, and Gia. The actress also won a Screen Writer's Guild award for Gia and has also received nominations for two Emmy Awards, and two BAFTA Awards.
She was last seen in Chloé Zhao’s Eternals and Taylor Sheridan’s Those Who Wish Me Dead.