MUMBAI: The Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) has come up with Stage 6 Films, a new label for its longstanding program of independent-budget level and cast driven films.
The banner will acquire and produce various types of programming, including prequels and sequels of established theatrical films and original projects.
Stage 6 Films will release between 10 to 15 films per year. The first slate from Stage 6 will include the actioner Conspiracy starring Val Kilmer, Gary Cole and Jennifer Esposito with Adam Marcus directing; Dark Country, a thriller starring Thomas Jane and Lauren German, which also marks the directorial debut of Jane; The Stone House, a horror/thriller directed by Alex Turner and stars Shane West, J.K. Simmons and Leonard Roberts; The Lodger starring Alfred Molina with David Ondaatje directing; and Ric Roman Waugh directing the thriller Felon which stars Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorff and Harold Perrineau.
The sequels Starship Troopers: Marauder directed by Edward Neumeier and starring Casper Van Dien, Boris Kodjoe and Jolene Blalock and Art of War 2 directed by Josef Rusnak and starring Wesley Snipes will also fall under the Stage 6 label. Additional upcoming projects are Vacancy 2, a sequel to the Screen Gems thriller released earlier this year and Center Stage 2, a sequel to the cult dance drama.
SPWAG senior executive vice president and general manager Adrian Alperovich stated, “Launching Stage 6 Films continues and expands the legacy Sony Pictures’ third party program built as a prolific distributor and financier of independent films such as One False Move, The Opposite of Sex and Dirty. Stage 6 will also continue to leverage our vast library of studio films as we have done with Daddy Day Camp and the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise.”
In addition to their responsibilities at Screen Gems, Peter Nelson and Nick Phillips, both vice presidents of production, will oversee the productions of Stage 6 along with SPWAG’s Lara Thompson, senior vice president of acquisitions and production and Scott Shooman, executive director of acquisitions and production.
