Republic Pictures to Direct Saoirse Ronan’s Horror Comedy ‘Bad Apples’ and ‘Spyglass’ ‘Heart Eyes’; Dan Cohen outlines Paramount’s strategy

EXCLUSIVE: Republic Pictures has acquired two more films, taking away the global rights to star Saoirse Ronan Bad apples and international rights to the horror rom-com Eyes of the Heart.

Paramount has revived the historic label in 2023, allowing third-party fare to be acquired. Dan Cohen, Paramount’s chief content licensing officer, is also president of Republic Pictures. He shared news of the latest acquisitions with Deadline and outlined Republic’s strategy ahead of his speech at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

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Bad apples is a satirical comedy with thriller elements. Republic Pictures has acquired the Pulse Films-produced film from HanWay Films. Saoirse Ronan stars as a teacher who accidentally locks the titular bad apple – a misbehaving student – in the basement, which has comedic and dramatic consequences. Based on the novel by Rasmus Lindgren De Oönskadedirected by Jonatan Etzler from a script by Jess O’Kane.

“I really want films that I think can have international theatrical life,” Cohen says. “And here’s Saoirse Ronan, a four-time Oscar nominee and a great actress, in the lead role of a funny British comedy.”

The Republic has worldwide rights, excluding the United States and Canada Eyes of the Heart. Horror rom-com directed by Josh Ruben and stars Cruel summer actress olivia holt i Scream star Mason Gooding. They play coworkers in Seattle working overtime on Valentine’s Day. A couple is mistaken for a couple and hunted by a serial killer who preys on couples.

“Spyglass are great producers, they know the horror genre inside and out,” says Cohen. “Olivia Holt is perfect for this kind of role, as is Mason Gooding, who starred in Scream cinema. I just looked at it and felt like 2025 would be Valentine’s Day where I could release this movie.

New Republic

Republic is a renowned film company that was founded in the 1930s and gained a reputation for westerns. The current version is a broader banner for films that will become part of Paramount’s Global Content Distribution lineup, Cohen explains.

“We were already taking over (before the resurrection of the Republic), but we weren’t really telling a story. Now, for example, at LA Screenings we can play tape that shows that these are not separate, related acquisitions that somehow got through the door; we have a point of view, we present cool independent films, and it’s available on Republic Pictures.”

In terms of volume, the studio will receive between 8 and 12 films per year. When asked what will be picked up, Cohen says Republic is “willing to do things that maybe others aren’t willing to do because of the genre because then you can get better designs.” Television is also part of the story, and Cohen is in Monte Carlo with limited series Gray Housewhich premiered at the Principality Television Festival with executive producer Morgan Freeman.

A third-party game by Paramount

In the television industry, Paramount acquires and sells programming from producers outside the CBS and Paramount corporate family, including most recently: Excellent, WITH AND Poker face. Third-party distribution means the sales team can license anyone, without having to funnel projects to its own services like Paramount+ or joint ventures like SkyShowtime in Europe.

In this way, Republic acquired global rights to Bao Nguyen’s documentary “We Are The World”. The greatest night in pop to Netflix and signed a deal with Hulu in the US for the Jake Johnson film Independencestarring Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Andy Samberg.

“They moved to other streaming services because it was the right solution for movies,” Cohen says. “It was good for my business and there was no controversy because it wasn’t made for Paramount.” Meanwhile, other titles are hijacked by corporate siblings. William Friedkin’s last film starring Kiefer Sutherland Caine’s mutiny court martialwas picked up by Paramount+ from Showtime in the US and SkyShowtime in Europe.

Paramount Global Content Distribution’s worldwide sales team provides Republic with information on what international buyers, especially TV buyers, want and what they will pay.

“We know the market, we know what we can earn and at what level,” says Cohen. “The greatest night in pop is a document and Caine’s mutiny court martial is a film version of a theater play; these are two things that you don’t always hear about as being very commercial in nature. I met with Billy Friedkin and asked, “how much is this going to cost?” He gave me the number and I said if you can actually get paid for it and Kiefer is in it, it will be profitable. WITH The greatest night in popwe heard how much they needed to make this movie, and we said if you can produce it, we’ll buy it from you.

TV buyers still want movies

The basis of Republic Pictures’ strategy is the constant demand for films from television audiences. While U.S. studios can no longer sign massive deals with international buyers for thousands of hours of content, the appetite for theatrical films remains strong. Deals are still based on theatrical release and performance windows.

“There is still a very strong market for pay-once (window) and pay-twice movies, and those will continue to be on exit deals and we will pursue those with the client over several years,” Cohen explains. “Movies continue to have a strong reputation on television, whether it’s newer streaming services, traditional paid services or free-to-air television.”

Republic’s acquisitions will also expand Paramount Global Content Distribution’s machine-hungry lineup. CBS Studios produces large-scale television series. On the film side, Paramount Pictures has huge franchises, but its sales team can handle more titles than it generates.

“Paramount Pictures makes great, important movies – Mission impossible, Transformers, Dungeons and dragons, Bob Marley: One Love – and they really help run our business, they are good for our customers, but the volume is low,” Cohen says. “Supplementing Brian Robbins’ (studio head) big, global films with some focused and more independent films makes for a good combination.”

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