MRC Film Names Its Romance Division, Appoints Sydney Fleischmann As VP Development And Production

EXCLUSIVE: MRC Film has named its romance label, led by Elizabeth Cantillon, Bisous Pictures—also announcing the appointment of Sydney Fleischmann as VP, Development and Production.

Bisous Pictures’ first film Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding and Richard E. Grant, is an adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, which debuts on Netflix today. Carrie Cracknell (Broadway’s Sea Wall / A Life) directed the film—made with Mad Chance and Fourth and Twenty Eight Films—in her feature debut, from a script by Alice Victoria Winslow and Ron Bass.

Going forward, the label will explore a wide range of stories within the romance genre that are inclusive and expansive, traditional and modern, original and literature based, and real-life stories that serve all audiences. It remains in development on previously announced projects including:

• Photos of You, based on Tammy Robinson’s novel, which is being adapted for the screen by Tom Dean (2016’s Blacklist, The Time Traveler’s La Ronde). Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton of All This Panic are attached to direct. Pic centers on Ava, who after a devastating diagnosis, breaks off her engagement, decides to throw herself a groom-less wedding, and becomes somewhat of a sensation and voice of empowerment. She discovers that it’s never too late to find the love of your life.

• 28 Summers, adapted by Allie Hagan (2017’s Blacklist, When in Doubt Seduce). Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel, 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair, its profound impact on the lovers and the lives of the people around them.

•  The Return, adapted by Tom Dean. Based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel, which spent 22 weeks on bestseller lists, focuses on an injured army doctor who moves into his late grandfather’s home in New Bern, North Carolina, where he encounters two women whose secrets will change the course of his life.

Fleischmann comes to MRC from Duplass Brothers Productions, where she was most recently a development and production executive. She notably served as an executive producer on that company’s HBO anthology series, Room 104.

“We’re proud to unveil our name, Bisous, the french word for kiss, which honors our label’s focus on the romance genre in all its various forms,” said Cantillon. “We also welcome Sydney, a fantastically talented exec, to our team as we continue to expand our label and we cannot wait to introduce our first film, ‘Persuasion,’ to audiences alongside our partners at Netflix.”

MRC Film’s releases have collectively earned more than $6B in worldwide box office and received accolades including 12 Academy Award nominations and 11 Golden Globe noms. Coming up for the company is writer-director Matt Charman’s Netflix film The Mothership, starring Halle Berry. It recently released David Frankel’s Paramount+ dramedy Jerry and Marge Go Large, starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening, and has also been behind films like Ted, Knives Out, Baby Driver, Babel and The Lovebirds. MRC has co-financed films including The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, the Peter Rabbit franchise, the second and third installments of Hotel Transylvania, 22 Jump Street, Think Like a Man Too and Fast & Furious 7. It’s also a partner of Deadline’s parent company Penske Media in two joint ventures in publishing and content, where both companies hold significant ownership.

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