Joe Drake Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

John Wick’s story may be in for a fifth chapter.

Chad Stahelski, who Deadline already told you was set to direct the reboot of starring Henry Cavill, has inked a deal with Lionsgate to oversee the creative on both that franchise and John Wick. Remember, John Wick is beginning to spinoff with the Ballerina this summer; Stahelski already an EP on that film.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Adam Fogelson is replacing Joe Drake as chair of Lionsgate‘s motion picture group. Drake reportedly initiated the transition and will be working with Fogelson over the coming months on succession plans.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake is exiting the company, and handing over executive duties and title to Motion Picture Group Vice Chair Adam Fogelson.

Jon Feltheimer, CEO of the first media company to report quarterly earnings since SAG-AFTRA struck a deal with studios, said Thursday that he’s so pleased that “we can now all get back to making great content for a global audience.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Helen Lee-Kim has extended her contract as president of international for Lionsgate‘s Motion Picture Group. Lee-Kim has generated nearly $1 billion in sales since rejoining the company in December 2017, according to the company.

Lionsgate and Universal Pictures International announced on Tuesday that Universal will serve as the international distributor for the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, starring the pop superstar’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, which we were first to report on. Uni will handle all territories apart from Japan, with Lionsgate repping the film on the domestic front.

The John Wick movie franchise has officially reached the billion mark!

Fueled by the strong performance of John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate’s John Wick franchise has crossed the $1B mark at the worldwide box office. The Keanu Reeves-led series’ total take to date now stands at $1,011,319,297 global.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “John Wick” is officially a billion-dollar franchise. Ticket sales for Lionsgate’s Keanu Reeves-led action series have surpassed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, with its tally standing at $1.011 billion across four films. It was carried across the coveted milestone by “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which is now the highest grossing with $425 million to date. The latest entry, which is the most expensive with its $100 million price tag, opened in March to $73.5 million, notching a new domestic franchise record. “John Wick” is one of the rare franchises that has gotten more successful with each installment. The first movie tapped out with $86.1 million in 2014 but it became a sleeper hit on home entertainment, while the 2017 sequel ended its run with $174.3 million. 2019’s “Parabellum,” which is the highest grossing entry prior to “Chapter 4,” left the big screen with $328.3 million globally.

William Earl Controversial Hollywood figures and “Father Stu” co-stars Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg are teaming for another film, with Gibson back in the director’s chair for the first time since “Hacksaw Ridge.” Gibson is helming “Flight Risk” for Lionsgate, which will be taking the project to Cannes. Davis Entertainment is producing, alongside Gibson and Bruce Davey through their Icon Productions. The logline says that Wahlberg will be starring as “a pilot transporting a dangerous criminal for trial.” “We love the undeniable electric pairing of Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg,” Joe Drake, chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement. “These world-class talents combining for this dynamic, character-driven film will make Flight Risk one of the most suspense-filled, must-see events of the year.”

EXCLUSIVE: Mel Gibson is returning to the director’s chair for the first time since 2016 Oscar winner Hacksaw Ridge with movie Flight Risk, which will star Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg.

Lionsgate has merged its Production and Acquisitions groups under a single Content banner, to be headed by Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane.

Lionsgate will be merging its production and acquisition departments into a single content banner. The new Lead Content Group will be headed up by Motion Picture Group President Nathan Kahane.

Charna Flam Lionsgate announced it has merged its production and acquisitions groups under a single content banner, and the new division will be led by Nathan Kahane, Motion Picture Group president. The new structure, announced Friday by Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake, will optimize Lionsgate’s impact in developing, producing and acquiring a wider breadth of films for distribution. Joining Kahane, Lionsgate’s Jason Constantine has been named Motion Picture Group’s co-president, and will oversee creative strategy and report directly to Kahane. Constantine drove acquisitions of the “John Wick,” “Expendables” and “Saw” franchises.

Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen have been tapped to star in an upcoming comedy film from Aziz Ansari.Announced via the Hollywood Reporter, the film, titled Good Fortune, is set to begin filming next month (May) with plot details currently unknown. Good Fortune is being written and directed by Aziz Ansari, who is best known for the Netflix series Master of None.Ansari will also co-star in the film, though the extent of his role is currently unknown.Good Fortune will be distributed by Lionsgate Films, with studio head Joe Drake saying in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We have indeed found good fortune with this film. We love the script and believe strongly in Aziz as both a performer and a director.

Aziz Ansari is preparing to make his big-screen directorial debut and so far he’s assembled an impressive (and impressively Canadian) cast.

Aziz Ansari is making his feature directorial debut with Good Fortune at Lionsgate, a movie he’ll also write and star alongside with Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen. Lionsgate will launch sales for the pic at Cannes next month, which is also when cameras roll in LA. The storyline is under wraps.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Aziz Ansari is making his feature directorial debut with “Good Fortune,” a comedy whose plot is shrouded in secrecy. Lionsgate has landed rights to the film, which will be written and directed by Ansari. The comedian, who is also starring in “Good Fortune,” has assembled the high-wattage cast of Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves. Since the logline is being kept under wraps, it’s unclear who the actors are playing in the movie. The production has been greenlit and will start principal photography next month in Los Angeles. Around the same time, Lionsgate is launching sales in Cannes Film Festival.

Lionsgate, which continues preparations to separate its studio business from Starz, laid off staffers in its Motion Picture Group today, sources tell Deadline. I hear the number is about a dozen.

EXCLUSIVE: Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, Hollywood swore off the booming and lucrative box office territory, with the first studios, Disney and Warner Bros, respectively pulling their big movies out of the country, Turning Red and The Batman.

Joe Drake told Deadline after the stellar result.His optimistic remarks come despite a clear-cut ending for the title character in the fourth film.“There’s a lot of different things that we can do,” Drake said. “I’ve seen this movie five times in the last week.”Drake and Lionsgate were surely moved by the franchise-record box office take of $137.5 million worldwide ($73 million domestic) its first weekend, and its 95% score on RottenTomatoes — another high.The Post awarded “John Wick: Chapter 4” 3.5 stars, calling it “100-miles-an-hour” and “a beautiful sight to behold.”In the film, assassin Wick darts around the world — New York, Berlin, Paris, Osaka — piling up bodies to finally free himself from the chains of the powerful crime syndicate the High Table.

Keanu Reeves landed another hit at the box office with "John Wick: Chapter 4." Studio estimates revealed the neo-noir thriller earned $73.5 million, a franchise-best for the saga about a hitman on a vengeful quest. In addition to its domestic haul, the film brought in another $64 million internationally for a global tally of $137.5 million at the box office. "John Wick" first premiered in 2014, and earned $14 million on its opening weekend.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake had much to celebrate this morning as the studio reaped a record global and domestic box office debut for the John Wick franchise with John Wick: Chapter 4 making $137.5M WW and $73.5M. The fourthquel was the best received John Wick of all-time with audiences (A CinemaScore) and critics (95% certified fresh). The movie is arguably the second best global opening for Reeves after The Matrix Revolution’s $201.4M.

Joe Drake has inked a new long-term employment agreement with Lionsgate as their Motion Picture Group Chair.

“Joe and his team continue to execute our core mission of creating great intellectual properties with a strong slate of tentpole films ready for launch beginning with John Wick: Chapter Four,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. “He is an entrepreneur with strong talent relationships and a firm grasp of the global theatrical marketplace, and he will continue to be a great partner in helping us move the Company forward.”Drake initially served as Lionsgate’s motion picture group chair from 2007-2012, overseeing the launch of the “Hunger Games” and “Expendables” series along with the expansion of the “Saw” horror franchise. In 2012, he left Lionsgate with producing partner Nathan Kahane to create the production company Good Universe, which produced films like “Neighbors,” “Don’t Breathe” and Spike Lee’s remake of Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy.” Drake returned to the Lionsgate chair in 2017 after the studio acquired Good Universe, with Kahane being named president of the motion picture group.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Longtime film executive Joe Drake has extended his contract as Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group chair. The multi-year deal will unfold as Lionsgate debuts a slew of sequels and spinoffs in theaters, including “John Wick: Chatper Four,” the “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” “Now You See Me 3,” “Expendables 4,” and the remake of “Dirty Dancing.” “Joe and his team continue to execute our core mission of creating great intellectual properties with a strong slate of tentpole films ready for launch beginning with ‘John Wick: Chapter Four,'” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “He is an entrepreneur with strong talent relationships and a firm grasp of the global theatrical marketplace, and he will continue to be a great partner in helping us move the company forward.”

EXCLUSIVE: We hear that STX and Lionsgate are down the road on a new strategic deal that will see the latter distributing and marketing the former’s upcoming theatrical releases. STX’s upcoming slate includes such titles as Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Greenland: Migration, and Neil Burger’s The Marsh King’s Daughter starring Daisy Ridley, Garrett Hedlund and Ben Mendelsohn, among movies.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaAdam Fogelson has been named vice chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, the studio announced Monday.He joins the studio from STX Entertainment, where he was in charge of the struggling company’s motion picture group. At STX, Fogelson launched the successful “Bad Moms” franchise, as well as the critical and commercial hit “Hustlers.” Other Fogelson-backed movies include “Molly’s Game,” which picked up an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay, as well as bombs such as “The Happytime Murders.” STX was originally intended to make mid-budget comedies, thrillers and other genres that studios had abandoned in favor of franchises and comic book fare, but the results were a mixed bag and streaming services made many of the same kind of films that the studio was attempting to make into theatrical propositions.

Lionsgate has named Adam Fogelson as its Vice Chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, with the executive set to exit his role as chairman of STX Entertainment’s film group. Fogelson will begin in his new role September 1 and reporting to Joe Drake, chair of the studio’s film group.