Netflix, Matt Reeves win bidding war for sci-fi short story Life Sentence

Matt Reeves and Netflix are wasting no time on his newly-established deal with the streaming service as Deadline reports they’ve come out on top in an intense bidding war for a sci-fi short story that they hope to adapt. Titled Life Sentence, the story hails from author Matthew Baker and tells the story of a world where instead of sending criminals to prison, the justice system erases their memories. The film will focus on a man who has had his memory erased who “finds himself trying to reconcile his past actions and relationships.”

Netflix beat out eight other studios that were attempting to win the rights to the story, including Amazon Studios, Warner Bros, Universal, MWM Studios, Fox 2000, New Regency, Gaumont, and Apple (who was hoping to turn the story into a TV series). Deadline reports that Netflix’s winning bid is in the six-figure range against seven figures if the film actually gets made. They also note that the final choice came down to the author wanting to see the project as a movie over a TV series.

Matt Reeves will develop the project as a produce for his 6th & Idaho banner, his next film as a director will be Warner Bros.’ solo Batman movie.

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