Peak Time Entertainment, the venture between ‘Rush Hour” producer Arthur Sarkissian and China’s Bruno Wu, is to chart a new course with “Titanic Code.”
The previously announced project, which focuses on a conspiracy plot behind the ship’s sinking, comes 20 years after the global success of James Cameron’s “Titanic.” Production is expected to start in early 2017.
Scripted by David Marconi (“The Foreigner”), the film is expected to sail into cinemas by Christmas 2017 or early 2018. No director or cast have yet been attached.
The production will be structured as a China-U.S. co-venture involving Peak Time and Seven Stars Entertainment, a subsidiary of Wu’s Sun Seven Stars Media Group.
Peak Time reports enduring global interest in the sinking of the iconic passenger ship in 1912 while on its maiden commercial voyage. “As a heartfelt cinematic icon, the word ‘Titanic’ remains one of the most searched words on Google worldwide, with over 300 million daily searches by more than 50 million fans and followers,” the company said.
Sun Seven Stars Media will also be involved in providing merchandising services, and will appoint a team of Titanic-related experts, research specialists, and explorers to engage in production planning for a dedicated online channel.
Sarkissian found and developed “While You Were Sleeping” which became Sandra Bullock’s first big hit. The subsequent “Rush Hour” franchise was discovered and developed by Sarkissian in 1998 and paired the unlikely duo of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan.
Controlled by Wu and Lan Yang, Seven Stars owns more than 50 film production companies via acquisition and joint ventures. It has produced some 20 English-language films, 300 hours of English-language TV, and over 150 variety and reality shows distributed to 64 countries.
Peak Time was established in April this year announcing a trio of initial projects. In addition to “Titanic Code” the company announced an untitled action comedy scripted by Bruce Evans and Ray Gideon (“Stand By Me,” “Only The Lonely: The Roy Orbison Story”.) In addition, the duo plans to collaborate on “Knights In Paradise,” a character-driven, romantic action-comedy to be filmed in the U.S., China and the Dominican Republic.