Mega-Deal: Phil Lord and Chris Miller Sign Nine-Figure Pact With Sony Pictures TV
Following their Oscar win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the creative team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller is in high demand. The pair, who started their Hollywood careers with the animated series Clone High, has now signed a five-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television, which sources say amounts to a nine-digit figure (that’s $100+ million).
Lord and Miller’s previous deal with 20th Century Fox Television is set to expire soon, and while the duo could have renewed, they made the decision to move to Sony. According to some trade reports, Lord and Miller didn’t want to stay at Fox now that it’s owned by Disney, owing to their dismissal from the Disney/Star Wars movie Solo.
Sony also makes sense since they have multiple projects in the works on the feature side including the hybrid Last Human and the fully-animated The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Lord and Miller’s previous work for Sony includes Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the 21 Jump Street franchise.
As part of the new deal, Lord and Miller will be able to develop live action and animated series, both comedies and dramas, through their company Lord Miller Productions.
The agreement gives them the power to create their own projects for a variety of distribution platforms: streaming, network, and cable, while they’ll also be able to oversee and help develop projects from other creators. It’s also confirmed that they will be integral in bringing to life several television shows based on Sony’s Marvel “Spider-verse” characters.
Aubrey Lee, vice president of tv development and production at Lord Miller Production, will continue in her position under the new deal. While all projects will be produced by Lord and Miller’s company, some of the series based on Marvel characters will be produced in partnership with Amy Pascal, the former co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment who now has a producing deal with the studio.
On the new deal, Sony Pictures Television President Jeff Frost said, “Phil and Chris have reimagined every medium and genre they have touched. Whether it’s television, features, or animation, they have created their own unique brand and style. We are so excited to be working with these brilliant creators and showrunners and are looking forward to collaborating with them in every aspect of television – comedy, drama, animation, and beyond.”
Lord and Miller’s latest television project is Bless The Harts, an upcoming animated series created by Emily Spivey where they serve as executive producers. The show was ordered straight-to-series and will debut on Fox in the fall.