Hugh Jackman Movie ‘Bad Education’ Sells To HBO For A Record-Breaking Sum
By Chris Evangelista/Sept. 17, 2019 3:00 pm EST
Deadline is reporting that HBO has purchased Bad Education for a record-breaking sum that nears $20 million. The exact number hasn’t been revealed yet, but the Deadline story states “the deal is in the rarefied range of the $17.5 million at Sundance for The Birth of a Nation, which was the fest record.” The deal will allow HBO to air the film globally. It’s also the biggest deal out of TIFF.
Screenwriter Mike Makowsky commented on the deal on Twitter:
Bad Education “follows Frank Tassone (Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Janney) who reign over a popular Long Island school district on the verge of the nation’s top spot, spurring record college admissions and soaring property values. But when an embezzlement scheme surfaces that threatens to destroy all they’ve built, Frank is forced to maintain order and secrecy — by whatever means necessary. Jackman’s performance as the charismatic Tassone has been praised as a career high by multiple critics.”
I wrote this script in a vacuum three years ago, based on a scandal that took place in my town when I was in middle school. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we’d end up here. Beyond thankful and very proud of this film. https://t.co/kVsYRQ6xL8
— Mike Makowsky (@mike_makowsky) September 17, 2019
Reviewing Bad Education for /Film, Meredith Borders wrote:
HBO will release Bad Education sometime in 2020.
The stakes are high, the story’s juicy, the performances are terrific, but the film never crosses over into must-watch territory, feeling a bit more like an elevated made-for-TV exposé than the sophomore effort of the filmmaker behind the deliciously wicked Thoroughbreds. It’s a fun watch and a good story, but it never again really reaches the heights of that opening scene following Frank’s ingress to the spotlight (even when the film flashes back to it in its closing moments). Bad Education makes for a good time, but it’s too bad it never becomes a great film.
