Netflix is Co-Financing The New SHAFT Movie and Will Help Change the Game in Movie Distribution

About a month ago we learned that New Line Cinema was developing a new Shaft movie that was previously titled Son of Shaft. Samuel L. Jackson is set to reprise his role from John Singleton's 2000 film. He will be joined by Jessie T. Usher (Independence Day: Resurgence) who is taking on the role of John Shaft's son. 

The production company has partnered up with Netflix, in what is being called a game-changing deal. According to Deadline, Netflix will finance up to half the film’s $30 million budget. In exchange, they will be given the rights to distribute the film internationally on its streaming platforms two weeks after the film is released in theaters in the United States.

It's said that the U.S. release will go through the standard minimum theatrical 90-day theatrical window before hitting SVOD and Blu-ray/DVD and then, of course, it will eventually be released on Netflix.

According to the report, the deal "can be a useful template for makers of urban-themed or genre fare that normally does most of its theatrical business in the United States. What the deal does in particular for the untitled movie is, it gives director Tim Story more money to make the film than he otherwise would have gotten from New Line."

This is actually really interesting and I'm curious to see if other studios will take advantage of this kind of new opportunity that Netflix is presenting. 

The new Shaft movie will tell the story of the son of the detective, "who, after long being estranged from his father, finds himself teamed up with him. The young man is an FBI agent, a cyber expert, and the partnership with dad is an uneasy collision of old-school meets new school."

Tim Story, who directed the original two Fantastic Four movies, will direct the film from a script written by Kenya Barris (Girls Trip, black-ish). The movie will start filming in December.