David Farnor | On 06, Oct 2015

Amazon has picked up Creative Control to add to its growing slate of original movies.

The streaming company has significantly stepped up its game in the past year, signing deals with Spike Lee and Terry Gilliam to produce original films to release both in cinemas and, short afterwards, on its Prime subscription service. Festivals are becoming battlegrounds for such acquisitions and, hot on the heels of a deal for Elvis and Nixon at Cannes, Amazon has acquired another title after its SXSW premiere back in March: Creative Control.

Directed by Benjamin Dickinson, who co-wrote it with Micah Bloomberg, the film follows an advertising executive (also Dickinson) as he tests some new virtual reality glasses.

These deals require the streaming companies to find a partner willing to brave the big screen – as Netflix has found with its upcoming release of Beasts of No Nation, many US cinemas boycott the whole endeavour because of the broken theatrical release window. Sources tell Variety that Amazon is teaming up with Magnolia Pictures for Crestive’s theatrical distribution, while the company has already signed on to develop the director’s next film.

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