What a difference a Hollywood year can make.
Just a year ago, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein were a filmmaking duo with humble indie horror roots, prepping to release their first sizeable feature, Final Destination: Bloodlines from New Line Cinema.
Now, thanks to that movie’s critical and box office success, Lipovsky and Stein, who first met 17 years ago as competitors on Steven Spielberg’s filmmaking reality show On the Lot, have become one of the busiest moviemakers around.
They are so in demand that Sony Pictures has snared them, signing the duo to a sweeping and expansive first-look deal, which covers all of the studio’s film labels.
Under the deal, Lipovsky and Stein’s newly-launched company, Wonderlab, will develop films for the duo to direct and original projects that they will produce for other directors. The focus is creating wildly fun, commercial, character-driven, genre-bending films. They are currently meeting potential executives to help lead the company.
And as part of the deal, the duo will direct Sony’s Columbia Pictures adaptation of Metal Gear Solid, the pioneering video game created by Hideo Kojima. It would mark the first time the blockbuster title, a stealth combat game with sci-fi and spy features, would be brought to the screen. Father-and-son team Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing the feature.
“Zach and Adam are thrilling storytellers, masters of visuals and suspense, and two of the most impressive director/producers working today,” said Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch in a statement. “With projects across all the company’s film labels, we are so happy to create a home for them, and proud to have them as part of the Sony family.”
The deal deepens Lipovsky and Stein’s relationship with the studio, where they are already developing multiple projects, including an animated Venom movie for Sony Pictures Animation, which they are directing. They are also developing the original sci-fi epic The Earthling for Columbia Pictures, which they are attached to direct and will produce alongside Eric Heisserer and Scott Glassgold.
“We are honored to be partnering with the incredible executive team at Sony,” said Lipovsky and Stein in a statement. “While working with several Sony teams in the last year, we’ve been blown away by the level of creativity, thoughtfulness, and passion we felt in every conversation. We share the vision that Tom, Sanford, Peter, Louie, Kristine and Damien, Ashley and the whole Sony team have for creating theatrical event films that entertain the world.”
Regarding Metal Gear Solid, the duo stated, “Metal Gear Solid was nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionized video games. We are thrilled and honored to bring Hideo Kojima’s iconic characters and unforgettable world to life.”
With Final Destination: Bloodlines, Lipovsky and Stein reinvigorated a moribund Warners Bros. title, helming the first Final Destination movie in about 14 years. The movie, released in May 2025, grossed $317.0 million worldwide on a budget of around $50 million, becoming not only the highest-grossing entry in the franchise but also the best reviewed.
Prior to that, the filmmaking gained notices for writing, directing, and producing the indie sci-fi film Freaks, which was one of the year’s biggest sales at the Toronto International Film Festival. They are currently in post-production on a Freaks sequel.
In the last year, the duo have also been working on several high-profile projects around town, including a new Gremlins feature they wrote for Warners, Long Lost with Spielberg’s Amblin and Universal, and The Traveler at Paramount.
Lipovsky and Stein are repped by Verve, Ground Control, and attorney Jamie Feldman.
