Lion's Gate taps L.L. to lure black women
Date: Monday, July 18, 2005
By: EURweb.com
Lions Gate Films is trotting out rapper LL Cool J as eye-candy to attract black female moviegoers. The first piece of bait under a multi-year deal between both parties will be a black version of "Fatal Attraction" in which the rapper/actor stars as an everyman who gets into serious trouble when he cheats on his wife.
"What we are looking to do with LL is to get high-quality material that will attract talent," says Michael Paseornek, president of production at Lions Gate. "We are not looking to develop gimmicks but make real movies. LL has a huge following and is very credible with women.”
Under the multiyear deal, LL Cool J will get a producer's credit on each film.
"This is the perfect transition for me as I can now pour all my energy and creative juices into this fresh and exciting producing venture," says LL.
Lions Gate has two more LL projects in the pipeline in addition to the urbanized “Fatal Attraction.” The films -- budgeted at less than $10 million, similar to Lions Gate's deal with actor/playwright Tyler Perry ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman") -- are looking to appeal to the black female market, which Lions Gate thinks is an underserved and often ignored segment.
"We'd love to make two of these a year," Paseornek said. "And we'll keep them coming if the marketplace responds."
Posted By:
Wednesday, July 20th 2005 at 2:58PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
