Amazon MGM Studios Buys Butcher & Blackbird for Prime Video

Amazon MGM Studios has acquired Butcher & Blackbird, a film adaptation that is slated for worldwide release on Prime Video, Amazon's streaming service. Deadline reported the deal, which sees Lyrical Media and Embrace sell the feature package to the studio.

The film is based on the novel by Brynne Weaver. It is the first book in her Ruinous Love trilogy, and it is a bestselling one. Variety has described the book as a serial killer romance. Deadline has said the story follows two rival killers who target other serial killers.

Chris McKay is set to direct. Emma Laird and Thomas Doherty will star. Laura Kosann wrote the script, and Ari Berkowitz and Ava Tramer are credited with revisions.

On the production side, Alexander Black of Lyrical Media and Embrace will produce. Weaver and McKay will serve as executive producers, along with Lyrical Media's Arlen Konopaki, Jon Rosenberg and Jonathan Faust. An executive producer is a credit usually given to people who help secure money or oversee a project, rather than handle the day-to-day filming.

For readers, the practical headline is where the film will appear. A film bought for a streaming service goes straight to subscribers rather than into cinemas, though some streamers do run short theatrical releases first. Deadline's report describes the plan as a worldwide release on Prime Video, and that is the detail to watch.

Deals like this one often start long before a camera rolls. A book with a loyal readership gives a studio a built-in audience, and a bestselling title can make a project easier to sell to buyers in other countries. The studio has not been reported to have announced a start date for filming, and no release date has been given.

What happens next depends on the usual stages: casting, shooting, editing and then a date on the calendar. Each of those steps will be announced by the people making the film, and each one will take months.