Joe Roth, Sid Ganis, Mark Johnson Strike Deals With Company Making ‘xXx’ Sequel

Veteran producers Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum, Sid Ganis and Mark Johnson have all struck deals to produce features for a new U.S.-based financing, production and distribution outfit called The H Collective. 

The H Collective, headquartered in Los Angeles with Chinese backing that has not yet been disclosed, is aiming to turn out four projects per year over the next four years, with a focus on family comedy, horror and action-adventure genres, as well as prestige pictures that can play in the global marketplace.

The company is in the process of setting up an extensive film slate, which includes another installment in Vin Diesel’s xXx franchise, titled xXx4, that will be produced by Roth and Kirschenbaum, who have been working together since 2015. The original 2002 xXx was produced by Roth’s Revolution Studios.

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Roth and Kirschenbaum will also produce the action-comedy Three Sisters to be directed by Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov and written by Derek Haas, with Ruby Rose set to star.

Ganis, former Academy president, and his wife and producing partner Nancy Hult Ganis will produce A Children’s Song, which follows two students competing for a music scholarship that discover their original compositions are based on a the same family song, leading them to uncover the true origin of the melody.

Johnson, whose credits range from Rainman to Breaking Bad, will produce horror-mystery Raven Road, from writer Brian Anderson, which will follow a group of teenagers that attempt to solve their friend’s mysterious death that happened on a deserted stretch of road made famous by urban legend.

Also expected from Johnson is White House Chef, which follows a Chinese chef that must save the First Family from a secret terrorist plot targeting a state dinner.

Finally, Johnson will produce the already-announced Aaron Paul project, The Parts You Lose, which centers on the unlikely and dangerous friendship that develops between a wounded man and a young deaf boy who finds him in a snowdrift and nurses him back to health.

On the acquisition front, The H Collective has separately struck an exclusive partnership with the Chinese entertainment conglomerate, Beijing Culture, under which it has secured North and South American rights to three films, including Wolf Warrior 2, the sequel to 2015’s hit film Wolf Warrior, which grossed $80 million in China, as well as Hanson and the Beast and A Better Tomorrow 4. 

While The H Collective may distribute the Beijing Culture films itself in North America, it’s expected that it will strike U.S. distribution deals with other companies for its other films, while selling distribution rights to other territories around the world.

“The company has a great understanding of motion picture investment and an eye for quality productions, and I’m certain we will have a successful relationship,” said Sid Ganis.   

“In today’s Hollywood, it requires strong partners to produce and finance such big-budget movies as the xXx series,” added Roth.  

Concluded Johnson: “We are excited with the challenge of making diverse and arresting films for today’s global audience.”