‘Youngblood’ Reimagining In Works From Plane Footage, Dolphin Leisure – Deadline

Aircraft Pictures is teaming up with Dolphin Entertainment to supply a brand new characteristic adaptation of the 1986 sports activities drama, Youngblood, with rising filmmaker Charles Officer (Akilla’s Escape) on board to direct. The movie is slated to start principal pictures in early 2023.

Youngblood follows hockey prodigy Dean Youngblood, who joins the Hamilton Bulldogs and discovers he should face off towards poisonous habits on the ice and inside himself, to meet his dream of being drafted into the Nationwide Hockey League. The unique movie, distributed by MGM, starred Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in his characteristic debut, and has since turn out to be a cult traditional amongst hockey followers.

Josh Epstein & Kyle Rideout, Seneca Aaron and Officer penned the script for the brand new movie, which can be distributed in Canada by Photon Movies — being made with the monetary participation of Telefilm Canada and the Expertise Fund, in addition to Ontario Creates and the Shaw Rocket Fund. Plane’s Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen will produce, with Jake Yanowski serving as co-producer. Exec producers on the movie embody Dolphin’s Invoice O’Dowd and Emerson Davis, in addition to Photon Movies’ Mark Slone and Zanne Devine.

“Fairly a bit has modified since Youngblood premiered greater than thirty years in the past,” mentioned Plane’s Co-Founder and Co-President, Leo. “With a visionary director like Charles, and with help from our monetary companions and Dolphin Leisure, this adaptation couldn’t be in higher palms.”

“In revisiting the Youngblood story, we’re given a possibility to take this extremely emotional and entertaining narrative and replace it for a wholly new era,” mentioned Dolphin Leisure’s CEO, O’Dowd. “We’re excited to flip the unique story on its head and discover how its themes of household, coming-of-age and masculinity will resonate otherwise right this moment.”

“The chance to re-imagine the beloved traditional hockey drama Youngblood is a present,” added Officer, “and I’m excited to carry a recent story that facilities on an African American hockey prodigy to the display screen.”

Officer is an award-winning director whose chosen works embody the crime-noir characteristic Akilla’s Escape, which premiered on the 2021 Toronto Competition and gained 5 Canadian Display Awards; the current BET+/CBC tv drama The Porter, which he additionally exec produced; and Mighty Jerome, which earned a 2012 Emmy for Finest Historic Documentary. His tv directing credit embody the CBS drama Ransom, the Netflix soccer drama 21 Thunder, ABC’s Rookie Blue and NBC’s Saving Hope. The filmmaker isn’t any stranger to hockey, having performed professionally when drafted to the Calgary Flames farm group, previous to venturing into directing. He’s additionally founding member of the primary Canadian Black Display Workplace.

Primarily based in Toronto with an workplace in Los Angeles, Plane Footage’ current tasks embody the upcoming Apple TV+ collection Circuit Breakers; the Hulu Authentic collection Holly Hobbie; the animated collection Summer season Recollections for WildBrain; the Oscar-nominated animated characteristic The Breadwinner; three tv films based mostly on the Bruno & Boots e book collection by Canadian younger grownup fiction writer Gordon Korman; the supernatural comedy collection Todd & The E book of Pure Evil; and the Kidscreen Award-winning single-camera comedy Elevating Expectations, created by Tom Saunders (Arrested Improvement) and starring Jason Priestley and Molly Ringwald. Plane obtained a milestone funding from Canadian media and content material firm Corus Leisure Inc. earlier this 12 months, which can show key in supporting its development ambitions in producing high quality family-focused leisure for the worldwide market.

Dolphin Leisure is an Emmy-nominated creator of tv, digital and have movie content material. Its division is most well-known for its decade-long partnership with Nickelodeon throughout a slate of prime-time, live-action collection and flicks, together with the top-rated collection, Zoey 101. Dolphin’s characteristic movies embody the Mattel co-production Max Metal and the Justin Bieber documentary Imagine. In Cannes this 12 months, Dolphin introduced a partnership with Imax to co-finance, co-produce and co-distribute characteristic documentaries. The primary undertaking on their joint slate is The Blue Angels, additionally to be produced by Unhealthy Robotic, Zipper Bros. and Glen Powell. Along with its legacy manufacturing enterprise, Dolphin owns six notable Leisure PR and Advertising businesses, together with main Movie/TV company 42West.

Officer is represented by GGA and three Arts Leisure; Aaron by Harrison Artists Administration; and Epstein and Rideout by Echo Lake Leisure, the Jennifer Hollyer Company and Michael Schenkman at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.