THREE NEW TITLES BASED ON REVOLUTION STUDIOS’ FILMS HEAD TO THE SCREEN IN Q1 2019
Benchwarmers 2, Grand-Daddy Day Care and Live Television Event of “RENT” Extend the Company’s Successful Strategy of Capitalizing on its Library through Sequels and Remakes
Santa Monica, CA (March 4, 2019) – Three new titles based on Revolution Studios’ films, a subsidiary of Content Partners, will make their way into consumers’ living rooms and onto their mobile devices in the first quarter of 2019: feature-length films Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls and Grand-Daddy Day Care, produced by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) in partnership with Revolution Studios, and the live television event “RENT,” produced by Fox Television. The projects are the latest examples of Revolution’s strategy under the leadership of CEO Vince Totino and President and COO Scott Hemming to maximize revenue from its extensive library through the creation of sequels, spinoffs and remakes.
“We live in a time of great abundance in entertainment with new digital services coming on line all the time and a hunger among audiences for high-quality content across all genres,” said Totino. “To satisfy that appetite, we continue to find innovative ways to tap into Revolution’s catalogue of acclaimed and commercially successful films and television series.”
Added Hemming: “These projects are perfect examples of how we work with creators, studios, networks and streaming platforms to expand and extend the life of Revolution’s franchises and evergreen titles and bring them to new audiences worldwide.”
Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls is the first title to emerge from the deal between Revolution and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) under which UPHE’s production arm, Universal 1440 Entertainment, licensed the rights to produce and release sequels or other spinoffs based on several Revolution feature titles.
In Benchwarmers 2, a young attorney and former aspiring major league baseball player is convinced by his eccentric boss, Mel, to manage the firm’s softball team full of misfits and strikeouts. Jon Lovitz reprises his role as Mel from Revolution’s 2006 hit sports comedy Benchwarmers. The film also stars Chris Klein (American Pie franchise, Just Friends), Lochlyn Munro (“Riverdale,” White Chicks) and Chelsey Reist (“The 100,” Dark Harvest).
Grand-Daddy Day Care is the second film out of the gate from the Revolution-UPHE collaboration. In this sequel to Revolution’s 2003 family comedy Daddy Day Care, which grossed over $150 million worldwide, a novelist finds himself looking after his aging father-in-law while trying to complete his next book. The film stars Danny Trejo (Machete, Dead Again in Tombstone), Reno Wilson (the Transformers franchise, “Good Girls”), Barry Bostwick (“Inside the Extras Studio,” The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Linda Gray (“Hilton Head Island,” “Hand of God”), Julia Duffy (“The Cool Kids,” “American Housewife”), Garrett Morris (Coneheads, “Saturday Night Live”) and George Wendt (“Cheers,” “Modern Men”).
RENT will air on FOX on Sunday, January 27, 2019. The winner of four Tony Awards® and the Pulitzer Prize, writer-composer Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking musical is a re-imagining of Puccini’s opera “La Bohème,” set in New York City’s gritty East Village in 1989. It tells the story of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams during a time of great social and political turmoil. Revolution produced the 2005 feature-film version, which features six of the original Broadway cast members and was directed by Chris Columbus.
The new live broadcast production will star Kiersey Clemons (“Hearts Beat Loud,” Dope), Emmy® nominee and Tony winner Brandon Victor Dixon (“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”), singer-songwriter Jordan Fisher (“Hamilton,” 2017 winner of “Dancing with the Stars”), Vanessa Hudgens (“Second Act,” “Grease: Live”), singer-songwriter Brennin Hunt (“Nashville”), music superstar Mario (“Empire,” Step Up), recording artist Tinashe (“Dancing with the Stars”) and performer Valentina (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”). Actress and singer Keala Settle will perform the iconic solo from “Seasons of Love.”
Totino, Hemming and Marla Levine, Revolution’s head of business and legal affairs and general counsel, serve as executive producers along with Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Julie Larson. Allan Larson and Alex Rudzinski.
