Warner Bros has emerged victorious in a fierce bidding war for Maude v Maude, a package deal that features Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry as lead actresses. The movie will be directed by Roseanne Liang, with Scott Mosier writing the script. Berry, Jolie, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Joe Roth will produce the film, while Mosier and Liang will serve as executive producers. While details of the movie's plot are being kept under wraps, an insider described it as a global action thriller, similar to Bond versus Bourne.

Both Berry and Jolie are veterans of the action movie genre, but they have never worked together before. Jolie starred in Salt and Maleficent and originated the role of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, while Berry played Jinx in the James Bond film Die Another Day and starred in the John Wick franchise and X-Men movies.

The bidding war for the package was intense, with Warner Bros putting in an impressive bid to secure the project. The studio has been pushing for more movie star-centric packages in its future slate, and the opportunity to feature two of the biggest stars of the last two decades was too good to pass up. Warner Bros' co-studio heads, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, have a history of going after projects they believe in and outbidding the competition, such as with Ridley Scott's House of Gucci and the Ryan Gosling-fronted Project Hail Mary.

Maude v Maude marks one of the first major sales for Mosier as a writer, who previously worked for Kevin Smith and produced films such as Clerks and Dogma. Liang most recently directed Shadow in the Cloud, which won the People's Choice Midnight Madness Award at the 2020 Toronto Film Festival.

Berry and her producing partner Holly Jeter joined forces in January 2022 to produce an array of projects, with a focus on elevating complex, strong women and women of color in leading roles. Jolie, on the other hand, recently directed Without Blood and will star in the biopic Maria, centering on opera singer Maria Callas, to be directed by Pablo Larrain.

The Maude v Maude package is a significant win for Warner Bros, which has been facing stiff competition from streaming services like Netflix and Apple. However, De Luca and Abdy have shown that they are willing to invest in talent and believe in their projects. With Jolie and Berry headlining the cast, Maude v Maude is sure to be an action-packed thriller that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.