Red Granite Pictures
Red Granite Pictures is an American film production and distribution company, co-founded by Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland in 2010.
History
Aziz serves as Chairman, Randy Hermann serves as CFO, while Danny Dimbort and Christian Mercuri serve as co-Presidents of the distribution arm, Red Granite International. The company was formed in 2010 but formally announced its executive team in May 2011 at the Cannes Film Festival. Red Granite's slate of films represent more than $825 million in worldwide box office revenue.Red Granite Pictures made its debut with Friends with Kids, a romantic comedy written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt. The film stars Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, and Megan Fox. Red Granite Pictures then executive-produced and handled foreign distribution for the dramatic thriller Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, and Casey Affleck, and directed by Scott Cooper. It was released on December 6, 2013 by Relativity Media.
Red Granite Pictures next released the highly anticipated film The Wolf of Wall Street on December 25, 2013. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau and Rob Reiner. The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the memoir of the same name by stockbroker Jordan Belfort. The film has achieved tremendous box office success and critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe win for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy for star Leonardo DiCaprio, and five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Red Granite Pictures then produced Horns and Dumb and Dumber To. Horns, a supernatural thriller starring Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella, Joe Anderson, Heather Graham and directed by Alexandre Aja, is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Joe Hill. It was released October 31, 2014 by Dimension-RADiUS. Dumb and Dumber To is an American buddy comedy film co-written and directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly. It is a sequel to the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber. The film stars Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Laurie Holden, Rob Riggle and Kathleen Turner. It was released on November 14, 2014 by Universal Pictures and opened as number one at the box office.
Paramount Pictures and Red Granite Pictures in association with Gary Sanchez Productions released the Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg comedy Daddy's Home on December 25, 2015. Red Granite Pictures co-produced and co-financed the film, which Paramount Pictures distributed worldwide. Daddy's Home opened as number two at the box office, becoming Red Granite's highest grossing opening weekend and its highest grossing domestic film.
Red Granite's development slate moving forward includes The General, a gritty look at the story of George Washington, and an untitled psychological horror film.
Joey McFarland is producer of Papillon, a remake of the 1973 film of the same name based on the best-selling autobiography by the French convict Henri Charrière. The film stars Charlie Hunnam as Henri Charrière, and Rami Malek as Louis Dega. It premiered in September 2017 at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Papillon is scheduled for release August 24, 2018.
Controversies
The producers of the hit movie Dumb and Dumber claimed Red Granite Pictures had squeezed them out of producing the upcoming sequel. On July 16, 2014, plaintiffs withdrew their racketeering claim with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled, which was characterized as a strong suggestion that the lawsuit underlying it had been settled. On July 18, 2014, a request for dismissal was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and the case was officially settled. The announcement of the settlement lists the plaintiffs as executive producers, and all claims of racketeering made against Red Granite, Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland were withdrawn. The plaintiffs said in a statement, “We apologize for naming Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland as individual defendants rather than just Red Granite.”Red Granite Pictures has been caught up in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. The alleged use of funds stolen from 1MDB is detailed in the book Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope. In 2016, the FBI issued subpoenas to several past and present employees of the company in regard to allegations that US$155 million was diverted from 1MDB to help finance The Wolf of Wall Street. Red Granite Pictures, which has the ex-Malaysian Prime Minister's stepson, Riza Aziz, as its co-founder and chairman, denies any wrongdoing. However, in March 2018, Red Granite Pictures has agreed to pay US$60 million to the US government in order to settle a civil lawsuit alleging that its movies were funded in part by money siphoned from 1MDB.
Filmography
;As producer| Year | Film | Director | Other notes |
| 2012 | Friends with Kids | Jennifer Westfeldt | |
| 2013 | Out of the Furnace | Scott Cooper | |
| 2013 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Martin Scorsese | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated—Academy Award for Best Director Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Won—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing Nominated—Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture |
| 2014 | Horns | Alexandre Aja | |
| 2014 | Dumb and Dumber To | Peter and Bobby Farrelly | |
| 2015 | Daddy's Home | Sean Anders | |
| 2017 | Papillon | Michael Noer |