Glen Powell, Anthony Mackie & Laura Dern Movie ‘Monsanto’ Pre-Sells To Netflix WW In $30M+ Cannes Market Deal

Glen Grey/Getty/Mark Seliger

Netflix has tied up a deal in the $34M range for the John Lee Hancock-directed package Monsanto, we can reveal. The pic will star Glen Powell, Anthony Mackie and Oscar winner Laura Dern.

CAA Media Finance cut the presale after launching with Rocket Science last week. Netflix has been quieter at recent markets but is back at the table with the splashy deal.

This and Apple’s WW deal for Everest sherpa pic Tenzing are the two biggest deals to emerge from the Cannes market so far. The latter is understood to be in the $40M range.

Monsanto tells the true story of young, untried attorney Brent Wisner (Powell), who takes on a seemingly insurmountable case against the giant U.S. chemical company Monsanto on behalf of Dewayne “Lee” Johnson (Mackie) who used Monsanto’s best-known product Roundup, a wildly financially successful weed and grass pesticide killer, as part of his job as a high school groundskeeper. During the trial, Dr. Melinda Rogers (Dern), the chief toxicologist of the Monsanto Company, testifies with certainty that Roundup is safe. 

The pic’s screenplay was developed in association with Karl Spoerri’s Zurich Avenue and penned by Michael Wisner, Alexandra Duparc, Ned Benson and Hancock. Producers are Moritz Borman, Eric Kopeloff, Philip Schulz-Deyle and Jon Levin alongside HyperObject Industries’ Adam McKay and Kevin Messick. 

Man of the hour Powell recently said about the project: “I’ve always been fascinated by true stories of ordinary people against extraordinary odds. This story encapsulates that spirit with a critical issue that affects us all. And it’s a privilege to bring it to audiences with an exceptional filmmaker and powerful cast.”

Dern previously added: “I’ve loved my collaborations with John Lee and look forward to working with him again. There couldn’t be a more vital story to be a part of.”

Said Hancock: “I was drawn to this contemporary David vs. Goliath true story because I found it dramatic, moving, quite funny and of critical importance in today’s world. My ambitions are to deliver a smart, thoughtful and commercial legal drama that takes the audience on a human journey.”

McKay said: “These days stories about the ‘little guy’ taking on huge institutions seem few and far between, both in real life and on the big screen. So, when a story as riveting and inspiring as this one shows up on our desks, we get excited. Why? Because people love and need these movies. They always have and always will. Erin Brockovich, Silkwood, It’s a Wonderful Life, Spotlight, 12 Angry Men, Moneyball, Norma Rae … I legitimately think I can list 200 wildly successful and beloved films about real people standing up against overwhelming odds with only fairness and truth on their side. So let’s make Number 201.”

Powell recently starred in Sony’s cash cow Anyone but You opposite Sydney Sweeney, as well as Tom Cruise’s top-grossing movie ever, the $1.49B Top Gun: Maverick. He also stars in Richard Linklater’s upcoming Hit Man on Netflix, which the actor produced and co-wrote with the filmmaker. Powell next stars in this summer’s Universal/Warner Bros tentpole, Twisters.

Mackie will make his big-screen debut as Captain America in Marvel Studios/Disney’s Captain America: Brave New World in February. The actor as played Sam Wilson/The Falcon in the MCU in such pics as Captain America: Winter Soldier and Avengers: Endgame. He broke out as Eminem’s nemesis in Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile and starred in Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Picture Oscar winner The Hurt Locker. Mackie most recently appeared in Peacock’s hit action comedy Twisted Metal, which he starred in and executive produced. 

Dern is an Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild, Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA- winning actress. She has starred in such critical and commercial hits as Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story; Greta Gerwig’s Little Women; HBO’s hit Big Little Lies, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park; Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi; among many others. She recently executive produced and starred in “Palm Royale” for Apple TV+, and will next appear in “Lonely Planet” for Netflix; as well as an Untitled Noah Baumbach project for Netflix.

Hancock directed Sandra Bullock’s Best Actress Oscar winning title The Blind Side on which he wrote and received an Academy Award nomination. Additional directing credits include Saving Mr. Banks starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, one of A.F.I.’s Top Ten Films of the Year; The Highwaymen with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson; and The Little Things starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto, which he also wrote.