Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
-based
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...
company, founded on October 2, 2018. The studio developed, fully financed,
produced
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
, sold internationally and distributed feature films in the United States on a wide-release basis.
History
In May 2019, Solstice Studios announced
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Max ...
would star in
Carl Ellsworth
Carl Ellsworth is an American screenwriter, best known for writing '' Red Eye'', '' Disturbia'' and '' The Last House on the Left''.
Filmography Television
*'' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997)
*'' Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book'' ...
's
thriller
Thriller may refer to:
* Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television
** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre
Comics
* ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, it grossed $44 million worldwide.
Solstice Studios announced a partnership with Studio 8 in November 2019, with
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
's ''Hypnotic'' as their first joint-project.
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...
has been cast to star in the film. Affleck will play a "detective investigating a series of impossible high-end heists who becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program". Production was set to begin April 2020, but delayed due to the pandemic.
In September 2020, the studio acquired the distribution rights to the
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, thre ...
drama film '' Joe Bell'' for $20 million. The distribution rights for the film were sold off to
Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions is an American production company and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of ...
and
Vertical Entertainment
Vertical Entertainment is an American film distribution and production company founded by producers Richard B. "Rich" Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012.
History
In 2012, Rich Goldberg & Mitch Budin founded Vertical Entertainment, a film distribut ...
in May 2021 along with ''
Plane
Plane(s) most often refers to:
* Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft
* Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface
Plane or planes may also refer to:
Biology
* Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant
* ''Planes'' ...
'' to
Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquarter ...
.
In October 2021, it was announced that Solstice had laid off a majority of its key executives, including its CEO, only less than a year after they had fired about twenty people in December 2020. This left only ten people on the Solstice Studios staff, which would oversee the completion of the film ''Hypnotic'' directed by
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
and starring
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...
and
Alice Braga
Alice Braga Moraes (; born 15 April 1983) is a Brazilian actress and producer. She has appeared in several Brazilian films, starring as Angélica in the acclaimed '' City of God'' (2002), Karinna in '' Lower City'' (2005), and Dolores in '' Onl ...
, which was confirmed by a spokesperson of the company. The staff would stay on till fall the following year, after which Solstice would possibly shut down. However, ''Hypnotic'' was left without a domestic distributor as a result of the series of mass layoffs and was ultimately acquired by Ketchup Entertainment in February 2023, possibly meaning that Solstice had shut down in the interim.