Stampede Ventures & ‘Wind River’ Producer Savvy Media Team For Franchise Hopeful ‘Mr. Croup’ About Former Brit Secret Agent

November 19, 2020

By Andreas Wiseman

(L-R) Jon Berg, Matthew George and Ward Perry

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Greg Silverman and Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures have optioned the rights to screenwriter Ward Parry’s spec script, Mr. Croup.

Matthew George’s Savvy Media Holdings, whose credits include Wind River and A Private War, will produce the film alongside former Warner Bros execs Berg and Silverman.

Mr. Croup is described to us an original spy-thriller with franchise potential, inspired by the likes of James Bond and Liam Neeson’s Taken character Bryan Mills. The script follows a mysterious recluse on a desolate island who finds himself in the company of a 10-year-old girl after her boat capsizes offshore and he is called to save her. With her in his possession, he must come out of hiding and face his past as a secret agent for the British government.

The aim is for the film to go into production in 2021.

Parry recently penned Iron Mike, which is currently in pre-production and documents the famed Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas boxing match that occurred in Tokyo in 1990.

“Greg and I couldn’t be more excited to bring to the big screen a brand-new action hero”, said Berg.

George commented: “Ward is an amazing writer; he has created a truly memorable character in Mr. Croup. It’s an extremely timely project given that Croup still uses old-school techniques, he’s an analogue hero in a digital age.”

Added Parry: “Greg, Jon and Matthew have made some of the most definitive movies in the last 20 years and so I’m thrilled and honored to be working with them to bring Mr. Croup to the big screen.”

The deal was negotiated by Chris Bosco and Anna Pinar on behalf of Stampede Ventures, Kimberly Jaime of Jackoway Tyerman on behalf of Parry, and Jonathan Gardner on behalf of George.

Silverman set up Stampede in 2017. His near two-decade tenure at WB saw him rise to President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production, working across a host of the studio’s tentpoles, including Edge Of Tomorrow and The LEGO Movie 2. Recent credits for Stampede include Pink Skies Ahead and slavery drama Alice with Keke Palmer, which is currently in production.

Berg joined Stampede earlier this year. His 10-year run at Warners saw him rising to co-president of production as well as co-head of DC Films. When he exited the job, he acted as executive producer on Wonder Woman and Aquaman and a producer on Justice League. Most recently, he was a producer and partner at Vertigo Entertainment, and had a hand in producing last year’s Stephen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep.

Stampede’s development slate includes Walter Cronkite biopic Newsflash, with Chris Pine attached to star as the iconic newsman, as well as North Hollywood, to be directed by Albert Hughes, and Prince of Port au Prince, an animated project from Wyclef Jean set up at Netflix.

Ward Parry is repped by ICM, Management 360 and Jackoway Tyerman. Matthew George is represented by Cohen Gardner.

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