Could Gangs of London be about to expand to Miami, or Johannesburg?
New Vice Studios boss Amy Powell raised the possibility at Content London today, during which she said Vice may bring the Sky-AMC franchise to other cities.
And Powell is shooting for the stars. “Can we take Gangs and expand it to a different city, with ambitions as ridiculous as this sounds as to what Marvel does,” she said. “For us we want to think about the power of IP like Gangs of London and make that resonate even further.”
Powell also drew comparison with the Yellowstone universe created by Taylor Sheridan. “It brings you thematically through the world with characters that appeal to you,” she added. “That storytelling is extraordinary and the muscularity and charater work, in a gritty, organic and authentic way, is reflective of what we’re trying to do.”
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Powell, who joined earlier this year and is now overseeing a $75M credit facility that will help Vice fund $500M worth of content over the next five years, floated Miami as a potential example. Later in the same session she was questioned on Vice’s activity in Africa and said Gangs of Johannesburg, or Gangs of Cape Town, could also work. “Is there a way to access different local cultures that have the DNA of the gang,” she added. “What’s so interesting about gangs is they are families, they have special rules about how they operate, a culture that is specific to their own gang, but at the end of the day it translates around the world.”
Expanding the hit show, which has just been recommissioned for a fourth season, speaks to Powell’s desire to lean into scripted IP, which comes at the same time as the credit facility. Vice has been attempting a revamp after falling into hard times in 2022 with a much-publicized bankruptcy in 2022, when it was sold for $350M to hedge fund and former investor Fortress, subsequently laying off hundreds of staff and restructured.
Pulse Films scripted exit was “nomenclature at the end of the day”
Powell may have raised eyebrows, however, when she described the closure of Gangs of London producer Pulse Films’ scripted arm as “nomenclature at the end of the day.”
Deadline revealed last month that Pulse, the storied transatlantic production company behind American Honey and The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, would become a commercials, music video and branded entertainment business, with a number of layoffs in London including ex-Vice Studios Group President Jamie Hall.
Future projects such as Gangs of London Season 4 will be housed with Vice Studios in L.A. but Powell said the UK remains a focus.
“We’ve just rebranded to Vice Studios, it’s nomenclature,” she said of the move. “At the end of the day we have great respect for Pulse Films but in terms of building one Vice voice we want that to be Vice Studios. But we are investing ten-fold what the studio has had historically with a big cash infusion. Our ability to invest in scripted is better than it has been and we are really doubling down in that space.”