BIG Entertainment announces script slate for Hollywood projects

Cannes, May 14 (IANS) From book adaptation to romance and comedy - Reliance Big Entertainment, the media and entertainment arm of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), has all this in the pipeline for its joint ventures with major Hollywood entertainment houses.

Big Entertainment has revealed the scripts of more than 20 projects for which it is collaborating with Hollywoood biggies at the ongoing 62nd Cannes Film Festival here.

It is tying up with Nicholas Cage's Saturn Filmsaction for the film 'Voodoo Child' as well as with Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment for a comedy titled 'O'Gunn'.

It has collaborated with Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures for three projects - 'Things They Left Behind', based on Stephen King short story about 9/11 survivors, adaptation of Thurston Clarke's book 'The Last Campaign' and David Dorfman's script 'It's A Miserable Life'.

The deals also secure Indian rights for the films which Reliance co-finances.

Big Entertainment focuses on media investments outside India and it had introduced a development and production financing deal called Creative Partnerships with international studios last year.

'The 'creative partnerships' call for Reliance to co-finance productions with US Studios where existing first-look deals are in place. From the conversations to date, we know that the respective studios welcome our development silos and our subsequent co-financing ability,' Amit Khanna, chairman, Reliance Big Entertainment, said in a press release.

'And it has been a very active and satisfactory first year and we have been delighted by the quality of the individual projects being presented to us for development financing. There are many others (studios) in the evaluation-negotiation stages and I'm confident of moving into the filmmaking stage on several projects before the end of the year (2009),' he added.