“The Hunger Games” and “American Crime Story” producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson have inked an overall film deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment under their Color Force banner.
“Nina and Brad have an amazing track record finding incredibly compelling stories, A+ (plus) relationships in town, the best taste and are just all-around terrific humans who know how to make film franchises,” said Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group Presidents Josh Greenstein and Sanford Panitch making the announcement.
Led by producer and film executive Jacobson, who founded the company in 2007, and Simpson, who joined in 2012, some of Color Force’s most successful film projects include “Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” franchise and “The Hunger Games” franchise — which has grossed $2.9 billion worldwide and continued last fall with the prequel film, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” earning an impressive $337.4 million at the global box office. Color Force will also produce the feature adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ next “Hunger Games” book, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” set for 2026.
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“We love making movies. That is why we are excited to make Sony Pictures our home base for feature films,” Jacobson and Simpson said. “Sanford, Josh, Tom, and the whole team have shown their commitment to filmmakers and the theatrical experience time and time again. We feel fortunate to have studio partners who are as energized about making movies as we are jointly.”
Before joining forces, Jacobson and Simpson had already built successful resumes. Jacobson was president of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, where 15 of her projects grossed over $100 million domestically, including “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “The Princess Diaries.” Simpson was president of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way after beginning his career as a producer and executive at indie production company Killer Films.
Color Force’s television business has been equally successful, with the Emmy-winning anthology series “American Crime Story” and drama series “Pose” among its premier titles. Jacobson and Simpson won Emmy and Golden Globe awards for the first installment “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” which was the company’s first foray into TV and received 22 Emmy nominations and nine wins. The second installment, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” earned 18 Emmy nods and seven wins. Color Force’s TV credits also include “Impeachment: American Crime Story”; “Y: The Last Man” and “Clipped,” the limited series about the downfall of LA Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling. The company is currently in post-production on FX’s “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” which is set to premiere on Sept. 17, and the limited series, “Say Nothing,” adapted from writer Patrick Radden Keefe’s book.
