After an eight year partnership, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures are going their separate ways. Films such as “Godzilla” and “300: Rise of An Empire” will still go through Warners, but “Seventh Son,” which stars Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore, Antje Traue and Kit Harington will be released across the street by Universal Pictures.
The deal is in negotiations as terms are still being finalized. The reason for the split seems to come from Legendary founder and CEO Thomas Tull, who would like more creative input as a hands-on producer, with say over all stages of any projects rather than simply providing financial support. Also, Warners wants full control over their DC Comics superhero franchises and seems to be looking to its old partner Village Roadshow for financing. Legendary is now in the early stages of branching out with a Legendary Comics division, television projects, theme parks and more. NBC Universal and Sony have expressed interest in assisting Legendary in accomplishing its goals.
Here is the storyline for the film.
John Gregory (Jeff Bridges) a seventh son of a seventh son and the local Spook has protected the country from witches, boggarts, ghouls and all manner of things that go bump in the night. However, John is not young anymore and he has been seeking out an apprentice to carry on his trade, most have failed to survive. The last hope for the country is a young farmer’s son named Thomas Ward (Ben Barnes.) Will he survive the training that so many others have failed at in order to become a Spook? Should he trust the girl with pointy shoes? How can Thomas stand a chance against Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) the most dangerous witch in the country? This is the first in a series of chilling tales known as the “Wardstone Chronicles.”
“Seventh Son” is scheduled to be released on January 17, 2014. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Antje Traue, Kit Harington, Ben Barnes, Olivia Williams, Djimon Hounsou, Alicia Vikander, Jason Scott Lee, Gerard Plunkett, Zahf Paroo, Faustino Di Bauda, Billy Wickman, Timothy Webber, Fraser Aitcheson, Sean Carey, Candice-May Langlois, Loyd Catlett, Carmel Amit, Taya Clyne, Jim Shield, Primo Allon, Lilah Fitzgerald, Brenda McDonald, Julian Black Antelope, Luc Roderique, Thai-Hoa Le, Isabelle Landry, Yaroslav Poverlo, Duffy and Marcel Bridges. Max Borenstein and Charles Leavitt wrote the screenplay from a previous screenplay written by Matt Greenberg, which is based on the book by Joseph Delaney. Sergey Bodrov (as Sergei Bodrov) directs.
Sources: bloodydisgusting, comicsalliance