The saddest part of a divorce is when you have children, isn’t it? I mean, who’s going to get who for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and summer holidays? Then when one partner gets remarried, things become even more difficult. With Legendary Entertainment splitting from Warner Brothers and shacking up with Universal, dividing the shared assets of the two studios has become quite a custody battle. Seventh Son, a fantasy epic starring Jeff Bridges, is among the first films that Universal and Legendary get in the battle.
Seventh Son was co-produced by Warner Brothers and Legendary, but now goes with Legendary to meet its new mom, Universal Pictures. This is just the latest film to be divided in the Warner Brothers/Legendary split. So far Pacific Rim and Godzilla remain with Warner Brothers, while Legendary gave up their share of Batman vs. Superman in exchange for a piece of Interstellar.
Seventh Son has not generated the most positive buzz as yet, drawing into question who’s getting the better end of the deal. Titles and release dates for Seventh Son have changed several times so far and the release date will probably change again now that Universal has ahold of it. The trailer, which I saw attached to Pacific Rim, does not inspire confidence. It looks like a mix of Eragon, Season of the Witch and Snow White and the Huntsman.
According to the official plot synopsis of Seventh Son, Jeff Bridges plays Master Gregory, a knight who once imprisoned the witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore, wearing one of Charlize Theron’s old costumes). Mother Malkin has escaped, plotting vengeance, and Master Gregory must find and train a new apprentice ‘before the next blood moon’ (I’m not kidding you) to fight her dark magic. The apprentice is played by Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia films), the seventh son of a seventh son. The only bright light that I can see in all of this is that Seventh Son was directed by Sergei Bodrov, who earned an Oscar nomination for his film Mongol.
So Universal and Legendary walk away with Seventh Son, while Warner Brothers still has ahold of Batman vs. Superman? I don’t know; I think someone’s getting a raw deal.