Brad Pitt is selling a 60 percent interest in his Plan B Entertainment platform to the Paris-based Mediawan giant, it was announced this weekend.
A statement by Mediawan said the French company was hoping to expand “beyond its core European markets into the U.
S.” and “cultivate a greater number of immensely talented creators and premium projects for a global viewership.”
The statement was issued by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Mediawan’s CEO and co-founder, who added “This partnership will allow us to create a unique artistic link between Europe and the United States through which we and Plan B will develop premium independent content, providing a global platform on which the world’s greatest talent can continue to thrive. We would like to thank Brad, Dede, and Jeremy for their trust and recognition of the world-class content emanating from our work in Europe.”
From their side, Plan B’s partners Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jimmy Kleiner welcomed the deal, declaring that “We have loved working together for nearly two decades and are incredibly excited about our future. As we enter the next chapter in our evolution, we are excited at the possibilities this partnership affords as we maximize our reach toward an increasingly global audience with a broad range of films and television series across all platforms, genres, and mediums.
For our current partner studios, along with those we look forward to working with in the future, we pledge to continue producing new content for audiences everywhere.
With the innovative, artistic and producer-centric platform Mediawan has built, we open a window to an even greater number of storytellers, both established masters and the emerging voices that have always excited us.”
No further details about the financial aspects of the transaction have yet been made public, though it’s been reported that Plan B has been valued at least $500 million.
Pitt, an Oscar-winning actor, had founded the venture in 2001 with his now ex-wife Jennifer Aniston and his former manager, the late Brad Grey. He became the sole owner of Plan B after his 2017 divorce of Aniston. Under the leadership of president Gardner and co-president Kleiner, Plan B recently produced She Said and Netflix’s Blonde, a fictionalized narrative of the iconic Marilyn Monroe. Other projects have included The Departed, Moonlight and Twelve Years a Slave. Among its TV productions are HBO’s adaptation of The Normal Heart (2014) and Amazon Prime Video’s miniseries The Underground Railroad (2021).
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