As the double strike continues, the fall festivals’ most exciting title has found a home. The Richard Linklater-directed film Touch manco-written by and stars Top Gun: Maverick breakout Glen Powell, has ended up at Netflix after interest from several buyers, especially the streaming services. Netflix landed a $20 million deal with it.
Touch man tells the story of a real-life, mild-mannered psychology professor (Powell) who also posed as an undercover hitman for the New Orleans police. But when he breaks protocol to help a desperate woman (played by Adria Arjona) trying to flee from an abusive boyfriend, the character finds himself becoming one of his false characters, falling in love with the woman and flirting with the turn into a criminal. The function is based on a True crime article from 2001 by Skip Hollandsworth, who worked with Linklater Bernie.
From the Venice Film Festival, Touch man received positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter The film’s review reads: “Given the chemistry between the two leads that could restart a dormant nuclear power plant, viewers will likely come away satiated with pleasure after seeing this beautiful work.”
Linklater and Powell have collaborated on several other projects, including Everyone wants a pair!! and that of Netflix Apollo 10 1/2. “Glen was a great creative partner. He’s a damn smart guy and he’s so curious about things. We could just talk for hours and really dig into the story and the details,” Linklater said THR in an interview before the festival.
Mike Blizzard, Linklater, Powell, Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan produced the feature. Executive producers are Stuart Ford, Zach Garrett and Miguel A. Palos, Jr. of AGC, John Sloss of Cinetic Media, Shivani Rawat and Julie Goldstein of ShivHans Pictures, Vicky Patel of Monarch Media, Steve Barnett and Alan Powell, and Scott Brown and Megan of Texas Monthly Creydt.
Other notable deals of late include Netflix acquiring Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, out of the Toronto International Film Festival with a low eight-figure deal. (This film did not have an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA.) While other TIFF deals have been slow to materialize, many conversations are taking place between buyers and sellers. As with everything in Hollywood right now, insiders note that potential sales are slow due to the strikes.
