After a fierce bidding war with both studios and independents, Lakeshore Entertainment has acquired the rights to a Peppermint, a female-centric action project that has Pierre Morel, the helmer behind action hit Taken, on board to direct.
Chad St. John, a co-writer on the Gerard Butler actioner London Has Fallen, penned the script for the project, which will be produced by Lakeshore’s Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright and Eric Reid.
Peppermint is a revenge story centering on a young mother who finds herself with nothing to lose, and is now going to take from her rivals the very life they stole from her.
Lakeshore, who paid low-to-mid-seven figures for the package, aims to fast-track Peppermint and be in production by fall. The project is being described as a “female John Wick,” a reference to the smartly budgeted action franchise that reinvigorated actor Keanu Reeves.
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Female spins on the action genre are now heating up, thanks in part to the slick and buzzy trailer for the Charlize Theron spy action movie Atomic Blonde, which Focus will open in July. Amblin Entertainment, meanwhile, is developing Highway One, a story about a mother who is a former soldier trying to get back her kidnapped daughter; Denise Di Novi is attached to direct.
Lakeshore is no stranger to the female action genre, as it is behind the vampires vs. werewolves franchise Underworld that stars Kate Beckinsale.
Renee Tab and Chris Tuffin of Sentient Entertainment are executive producing Peppermint.
Morel is best known for directing Taken, the movie that gave Liam Neeson a new life as an action star and became the mold for many mid-budget action vehicles when it was released in 2008.
Morel and St. John are repped by UTA; Morel is additionally repped by Sentient.
