New Line films has signed music mogul Dr. Dre to a multi-year feature producing deal through his newly minted Crucial Films banner.
Dre, who will co-produce with longtime collaborator Phillip Atwell, (who produced and co-wrote Murder Was the Case) plans to focus first on developing dark comedies for the mini-major before moving into other areas, such as horror. He’ll be heavily involved in the music side of such projects.
“This is a natural switch for me, since I’ve directed a lot of music videos,” Dre told Variety. “And I eventually want to get into directing.”
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Dre worked with New Line in the past, scoring films including “Set It Off.” He credited New Line production president Toby Emmerich, who had been head of New Line’s music business before moving into his current slot, with persuading him to make the move into features in a manner similar to that of other music-industry heavyweights.
“He said ‘I want to be your Jimmy Iovine,’ “Dre recalled. “There was nothing more he needed to say.”
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Emmerich first approached Dre a year ago in order to convince him that his producing and storytelling capabilities would be welcome at New Line.
“Everything Dre has worked on becomes a hit, and one of the reasons for that is that he never put his name on anything that he doesn’t really believe in. His records have always been very narrative in nature, and you can tell from his songs that he understands how to tell a story. We’re excited to work with him as he branches out into the film world,”
