A spirited auction has ended with Universal winning the rights to an untitled comedy pitched around town by Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra and Dan Goor. Kaling will write with Goor and she will potentially direct. Its a two-hander star vehicle for Kaling and Priyanka Chopra that takes place in America and India. The deal was closed before the WGA-ATA talks broke down this evening.
We heard that numerous suitors chased this one, including Legendary, Sony, Netflix and Amazon Studios, latter of which made the splashy Sundance Film Festival deal for Late Night, the comedy that Kaling scripted and stars in with Emma Thompson.
Kaling has an option to direct this film. She will write it with Dan Goor, who is co-creator and exec producer of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He is producing with Kaling’s Kaling International, Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures, 3Arts’ Howard Klein and Goor. Klein produced Late Night and was an EP on The Office.
It revolves around a big wedding in India and the ensuing culture clashes. Today it was being called Crazy Rich Asians meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
This becomes the second hot auction this year for a Kaling-scripted project after Amazon Studios paid $13 million — a record for a U.S. rights deal at Sundance — for Late Night, which Amazon has dated for June 7 release. Kaling and Matt Warburton are separately turning Four Weddings and a Funeral into a TV series for MGM Television and Hulu. Kaling last starred in Ocean’s Eight and exec produced The Mindy Project. Chopra’s breakout turn came in the ABC series Quantico and she recently appeared in A Kid Like Jake and Isn’t It Romantic.
Heather Morris and Nina Anand Aujla will be the exec producers.
CAA, 3 Arts and Ziffren Brittenham rep Kaling, Chopra is repped by WME, her manager Anjula Acharia and Grubman Shire; Goor is UTA and Ziffren Brittenham.
Source: Deadline
