Peter Chernin is churning out the hits.
The former News Corp. chairman and veteran Hollywood producer notched an impressive record this week, as his North Road Company and its portfolio divisions produced the number one film and series on Netflix’s global viewing charts.
Charlize Theron’s Australia-set action movie “Apex” scored 40.2 million views in its second week of release, making it the most-watched English language film on the service. Chernin, Jenno Topping and David Ready produced the project for North Road’s premium scripted label Chernin Entertainment.
Meanwhile, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II lit up the English-language TV chart with 11 million views for “Man on Fire,” a series adaptation of the A. J. Quinnell novel that also inspired a 2004 film starring Denzel Washington. Chernin, Topping and Tracey Cook shepherded for their company alongside New Regency.
“We’re so proud of our creative teams, and this moment is really a testament to how high of a bar we’ve set for them,” North Road Company CEO Scott Manson told Variety. “They’ve always managed to meet and exceed those expectations.”
Chernin added that the ratings success was “a great indicator of our diversity and quality. We also recently rolled out ‘Love Is Blind’ and ‘Hulk Hogan: Real American.’ These are global-facing projects, and the people we work with are in the trenches every day developing and executing, killing themselves every step of the way.”
While Sony Entertainment has previously held both the top film and series on Netflix, North Road is the first independent producer to do so. The operation is about to hulk up into perhaps the largest independent content producer in the marketplace, thanks to its pending merger with French production giant Mediawan.
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
Netflix gave “Apex” a serious marketing commitment, wallpapering major markets with P&A starring Theron – and even sending the Oscar winner climbing up to the top of Times Square to promote her survival thriller. The film’s buzzy soundtrack features the song “Go” by The Chemical Brothers during a crucial plot point, and the track has ascended into Spotify’s Viral 50 chart and ranked as Shazam’s top global song of the week.
“Charlize deserves so much credit for this. She did what you hope a star would do, which is really dedicate herself to supporting it. She’s justifiably proud of the movie,” Chernin added.
There are no official greenlights for an “Apex” sequel, or a second season of “Man on Fire,” but Mason and Chernin said conversations will likely happen soon.
From Variety US