Range Studios, the production arm of Range Media Partners, is in final talks for a two-year first-look deal with Paramount, according to Deadline. The agreement would see Range producing commercially elevated theatrical releases exclusively for the studio under the pact.
Fred Berger, a two-time Academy Award nominee who leads Range Studios' Film & Production division, has overseen nearly 20 films over the past three years. The company's credits span prestige and genre: James Mangold's Academy Award-nominated A Complete Unknown, Oz Perkins' back-to-back horror releases Longlegs and The Monkey, Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders, and Lance Oppenheim's Primetime for A24. Founding partner Jack Whigham will advise and produce across the partnership.
Projects already in development include Bald Eagles, an R-rated workplace comedy by writer Brandon Cohen that Paramount preempted in a competitive deal. The situation signals the momentum both parties have built ahead of any formal agreement.
Range has built one of independent cinema's more consistent track records, moving between prestige and genre without appearing to choose between them. A Paramount first-look formalizes what the company's output already suggests.
