Angelina Jolie Strikes Film, TV Deal With Fremantle, Will Direct ‘Without Blood’ Adaptation

Angelina Jolie is set to make feature films, documentaries and series for TV giant Fremantle.

In a three-year deal announced Friday, the Oscar winner and activist — who made her directorial debut with the 2007 documentary A Place in Time, followed by the feature In the Land of Blood and Honey in 2011 — will team with Fremantle to develop what the company describes as a “sophisticated, powerful and internationally focused” slate of projects, which Jolie will produce, direct and/or star in.

The first film out of the gates is Without Blood, which Jolie was first attached to in 2017. Jolie will produce and direct, working from a script she adapted from the best-selling novel by Alessandro Baricco (Silk) and telling the story of a girl’s quest for revenge and healing during a time of conflict. Production is due to kick off in Italy this May. Fremantle says more projects will be announced soon.

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“To have the freedom to tell important stories and bring them to a global audience is at the heart of this agreement with Fremantle,” said Jolie. “I am excited to be working with such a passionate and forward-looking team that has an international perspective.”

Along with Fremantle Global CEO Jennifer Mullin, and Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and Continental Europe CEO, De Maio Entertainment’s Lorenzo De Maio — who The Hollywood Reporter understands was a key component of the deal — will serve as strategic advisor and partner across Jolie’s slate.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Angelina, joining creative forces in the next phase of her extraordinary career as a producer, director, actor and humanitarian,” said Mullin. “Fremantle and Angelina share the passion and ambition of telling compelling stories from everywhere in the world, for everyone in the world. We embrace and support the creative independence of our partners and look forward to working with Angelina to bring powerful and unique stories to a global audience.”

The deal comes just a day after Fremantle announced it was acquiring a 70 percent stake in Italian production house Lux Vide and arrives amid a growing slate of major films from the company, which backed Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated The Hand of God. It is currently working on films and series with creatives including Luca Guadagnino, Michael Winterbottom, Kenneth Branagh, Tebogo Malope, Kirill Serebrennikov, Afua Hirsch, Felix van Groeningen, Shira Haas, Alice Rohrwacher, Saverio Costanzo and Steven Knight.

Jolie is repped by WME and attorneys Robert Offer and Lindsey Strasberg at Sloane Offer.