EXCLUSIVE: Netflix continues to broaden its feature film slate, negotiating toward a pre-emptive acquisition of Yuba, a spec script by newcomer writer Eamon O’Sullivan. The film will be produced by Free Association’s Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan, along with Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Energy Entertainment’s Brooklyn Weaver.
The script has been designed to tell a sprawling period tale on a budget pegged at around $25 million or under. Netflix exec Sarah Bowen brought it in before other buyers got to read it.
Yuba is a gritty Western with two main characters, set in the Gold Rush era. At that time, the Yuba river valley often was cited as the most lawless lands of the Old West. The drama aspires for the rawness of ambitious, flawed characters seen in period films like There Will Be Blood or Legends of the Fall.
The scribe is repped by UTA and Energy. UTA reps Tatum along with Management 360 and attorney attorney Craig Jacobson. Attorney Rick Genow reps Lee.
First time the words “Legends of the Fall” collided in the same sentence with There Will Be Blood.