The Slumdog Millionaire sequel rights have been acquired by Bridge7. The newly launched Los Angeles-based production company – run by Swati Shetty and CAA agent Grant Kessman – has negotiated a deal with the UK’s Celador.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bridge7 has the film sequel and TV rights for Danny Boyle’s 2008 classic.
It’s said that Celador – which financed and produced the original movie – will work with the new rights owners on the follow-up.
Slumdog Millionaire was a breakout role for Dev Patel, and won eight Academy Awards, as well as the Oscar for best picture.
Shetty and Kessman said in a joint statement: “Some stories stay with us long after the credits roll, and Slumdog Millionaire is undoubtedly one of them.
“Its narrative is universal, cutting across cultural and geographical lines and it embodies the kind of stories we love – ones that bridge entertainment with profound human experiences.”
Slumgdog Millionaire follows Jamal (Patel) and his brother Salim as they grow up poor in Mumbai before teaming up with young girl Latika (Freida Pinto).
Their mother dies in a religious riot and they struggle to find their way in their childhood and younger years of adulthood.
These scenes are shown alongside Jamal’s present-day appearance on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Dev Patel previously reflected on the “ridiculous” time in his life when he was propelled to global fame thanks to his role in Slumdog Millionaire.
He told The Times newspaper’s Saturday Review: “That really was like being a lobster thrown into a boiling pot. It was ridiculous in every sense. I was plucked from my box room in Rayners Lane [in north west London].
“I was travelling everywhere by train and then suddenly I’m on the front page of the paper, and there’s that moment in the carriage where every head, one by one, like meerkats, begins to turn and stare.”
And the 34-year-old actor admitted that hadn’t changed over the years.
He added: “It was a crazy experience. And I still feel like that today, in some ways. You can’t take that Rayners Lane kid out of me.”
Meanwhile, Freida Pinto – who made her film debut in Slumdog Millionaire – has admitted she can no longer bring herself to watch the movie after seeing it so much after it hit the big screen.
Speaking in 2020, she told Empire Magazine: “There’s obviously a beautiful story that binds the entire film together, but it’s the little moments and the emotion that each of these moments elicits that I really loved about the movie.
“That’s why when it first came out, I watched it a million times and now I can never watch it again.
“I had not done a single movie before, and I’d never experienced anything like going to the movies with everyone and seeing your face on a massive screen.”
