Paul Perez Signs Production Deal with Warner Bros.

Paul Perez has landed a new production deal…

The Cuban American film producer and former Warner Bros. development executive has agreed to a production deal at the Burbank, CA lot.

Paul PerezThe announcement comes as the Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan romantic comedy, Father of the Bridea project Perez spearheaded and produced at the studio, hits HBO Max on Thursday, June 16.

During his time at Warner Bros, Perez was involved with the development of Ready Player One, Dune and Doctor Sleep

He came to Warner Bros. after a development executive stint at Lionsgate’s Pantelion where he worked on the Eugenio Derbez hit movie, Instructions Not Includedwhich wound up being Mexico’s highest grossing export of all-time with $100.5M WW, as well as Spare Parts and No Manches Frida

Perez initially cut his teeth in the industry reading scripts for producer Ben Odell (now Derbez’s production partner at 3Pas Studios) and working in the Miami William Morris offices.

Father of the Bride is a project close to Perez’s heart given his Cuban American Miami heritage. He came to the property while combing through the Warner library in a quest to develop revamped IP. The project’s momentum swelled after Perez discussed it at a Warner Bros. development exec retreat, with the studio’s President of Production Courtenay Valenti ultimately taking to Matt Lopez’s screenplay.

The fresh angle in this Latino take of Father of the Bride: the bride’s parents played by Garcia and Estefan are on the verge of a divorce. Perez married the package with burgeoning Mexican filmmaker Gary Alazraki.

While recent audiences are familiar with the Steve MartinDiane KeatonMartin Short 1991 Touchstone remake (a hit back then grossing over $89M and spawning a 1995 sequel), the film was originally an MGM title released in 1950, directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor.

Warners had inherited the title in their acquisition of the pre-May 1986 MGM library via their absorption of Turner Films in 1995. Disney had licensed the title during the ’90s and in recent years Father of the Bride’s underlying rights reverted back to Warners.

Perez under his new deal is also shepherding the new Training Day prequel at the studio. That film is set around the time of the L.A. Riots that followed after the infamous Rodney King verdict.

“Warner Bros. is thrilled that Paul Perez will have a first look producing deal with the studio,” says Valenti. “Paul is a valued colleague who spent several years in development and production at WB. During that time he showed extraordinary creativity and strategic thinking looking to reinvent several classic library titles. One of those titles is Father of the Bride. We love Gaz Alazraki’s film of Father of the Bride and are very grateful to Paul for beginning the film process with his idea for how to reimagine this wonderful world.”

Cuarón Offered the Opportunity to Direct the Prequel to the Horror Classic “The Shining”

Alfonso Cuarón is being presented with a shining opportunity…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker, who was named Best Director at this year’s Oscars, is reportedly being offered the opportunity to helm a prequel to the horror classic The Shining.

Alfonso Cuaron

The project is reportedly called “The Overlook Hotel“.

Glen Mazzara, the former showrunner on AMC’s The Walking Dead, is in talks to write the script.

The original film, released in 1980, starred Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a father who brings his wife and son to an isolated hotel for the winter. Due to an evil presence in the hotel, Torrance goes crazy and becomes violent.

It’s based on a novel of the same name by Stephen King. A follow-up book titled Doctor Sleep was released in 2013.

When asked about the prequel plan earlier this year, King told Entertainment Weekly, “There’s a real question about whether or not they have the rights to Before the Play, which was the prologue cut from the book – because the epilogue to the book was called After the Play. So they were bookends, and there was really scary stuff in that prologue that wouldn’t make a bad movie. Am I eager to see that happen? No I am not.”

“And there’s some real question about what rights Warner Bros. does still have. The Shining is such an old book now that the copyright comes back to me. Arguably, the film rights lapse – so we’ll see. We’re looking into that.” 

”I’m not saying I would put a stop to the project, because I’m sort of a nice guy. When I was a kid, my mother said, ‘Stephen if you were a girl, you’d always be pregnant.’ I have a tendency to let people develop things. I’m always curious to see what will happen. But you know what? I would be just as happy if it didn’t happen.”