Ric Roman Waugh, the action director behind Angel Has Fallen and Greenland, has signed a first look deal with Lionsgate.
The producing deal aimed at the genre space will also cover Waugh’s CineMachine Media Works banner and production partner Brendon Boyea. As they cement their production ties, Lionsgate recently picked up the action-thriller Renegotiate, to be written by Mark Townend and produced by Waugh and Boyea, alongside Range Media Partners’ Brian Kavanagh Jones and Fred Berger, with AJ Bourscheid executive producing.
“When you’re surrounded by a cadre like this who respect, collaborate and care for you as their filmmaker, there’s not a place on earth I’d rather call home than Lionsgate,” Waugh said Friday in a statement. He is also in production on an untitled thriller to star Jason Statham, Naomi Ackie and Bill Nighy for Black Bear.
Lionsgate will release Waugh’s next film, Greenland: Migration, later this year.
The first look deal was announced by Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, who said in a statement: “Ric’s skill and success with action films makes him a coveted director and producer for the most reliable action stars in the world. We are excited to be his home base and to collaborate with him on a slate of projects that we are confident will thrill audiences worldwide.”
Waugh and Boyea first teamed up on the 2020 global disaster thriller Greenland. The CineMachine banner includes Kenner Bolt, senior vp, film.
Boyea and Bolt earlier collaborated on the Sundance film The Accidental Getaway Driver, which earned the directing award in the festival’s U.S. Dramatic competition. The production deal was negotiated by Dan Freedman for Lionsgate, with Waugh represented by Range Media Partners and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
