BLOCKBUSTER MOVE
EVERTON'S planned revival and push for Premier League survival this season could end up being Oscar worthy.
The club's new billionaire owner, and part-time stuntman, Dan Friedkin owns a company that oversaw the production of FOUR Academy awards.
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The 59-year-old American billionaire businessman confirmed his 94.1 per cent stake from loathed owner Farhad Moshiri on Wednesday.
The FA, the Premier League and the Financial Conduct Authority approved the Friedkin Group's (TFG) majority takeover in a deal which is believed to be worth in excess of £400m.
Roundhouse Capital Holdings Limited, which is an entity within The Friedkin Group, have promised to clear Everton's mounting debt.
Friedkin, who also owns Serie A side Roma, is film director and owner of a production distribution company Neon, as well as several other businesses that have earned him a whopping £6.1billion fortune.
WHEN IN ROME: WORKING WITH MOURINHO
Back in August 2021, Friedkin agreed to buy Roma - who hadn't won a league title since 2001 - off a fellow American.
James Pallotta had failed to deliver the good times he promised, and was tempted into a sale.
The first serious decision Friedkin came when he fired boss Paulo Fonseca and replaced him with Premier League icon Jose Mourinho.
And it proved to be right one when the Mourinho led Roma to their first European trophy in 61 years in May 2023 when they lifted the the Uefa Conference League title.
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The Special One also guided them to the Europa League final last season, where they were defeated by Sevilla on penalties
But Mourinho was sacked after two-and-a-half years in charge, with Daniele De Rossi named as his replacement.
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Friedkin's Roma deal was made for around £512million, and he described how it felt to finalise all the paperwork.
"It was a wonderful, humbling moment, and we were delighted to join the AS Roma family," he told
"It was also a moment of great seriousness, as we have a tremendous responsibility; a moment that we couldn’t linger on, as there is so much work to do."
Friedkin's son Ryan is vice-president of Roma and hasn't yet been linked with a job at Everton since the takeover announcement.
The club have dropped to 12th in the Serie A table.
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HE'S HOLLYWOOD
Friedkin, who is also CEO of Gulf States Toyota Distributors, doesn't just do deals with the major stars of the football world, he's also ensconced in the movie business.
His first foray into the world of entertainment came in 2014, when he co-founded production house Imperative Entertainment in Santa Monica, California.
Their critically-acclaimed 2017 film The Square won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ridley Scott thriller All the Money in the World and Clint Eastwood's The Mule soon followed.
In 2017, he set-up 30WEST - a financing company which gained a majority ownership in Neon, a theatrical marketing and distribution company, in 2018.
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A year later, they distributed the Academy Award-winning South Korean film Parasite, which picked up four gongs on the night.
Friedkin also worked with legendary movie director Martin Scorsese on Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
FILM IS HIS PASSION
As well as financing and producing, Friedkin has stepped behind the lens himself.
In 2019, he directed war epic The Last Vermeer starring Aussie actor Guy Pearce.
He was steered into the role by pal Ridley Scott, who thought he would be able to capture the drama needed to tell the story.
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The film follows an artist suspected of selling a valuable painting to the Nazis and is a true story.
His debut was generally met with good reviews - and has a 6.7 out of 10 rating on IMDB.com.
PLANES, NOT TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
Aside from film, Friedkin is obsessed with aviation.
Incredibly, his hangars play host to over 40 aircraft of all types, including the North American F-86 Saber fighter jet and four Supermarine Spitfires produced on British shores in the 1930s.
He's also one of 10 civilian Heritage Flight pilots qualified to fly in formation with US Air Force single‐ship demonstration teams.
Friedkin regularly participates in air shows throughout North America and Europe, flying right wing for the Horsemen Flight Team, the world’s only P‐51 formation aerobatic team.
WHICH LED TO THIS...
In 2017, Friedkin was able to combine his love of film and aviation by flying a WWII-era Spitfire in Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winner Dunkirk.
He even won a 'best speciality stunt’ award after landing the 76-year-old Spitfire on the beach for the Hollywood blockbuster.
His big moment came in the crucial final beach scene, in which Tom Hardy’s plane runs out of fuel and attempts one final circle to attack a German plane.
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A year later, Friedkin performed a stunt in a Gulfstream for US TV series Lethal Weapon.
If Everton need reminding who's 'Hollywood', they should look no further than their new owner.
And for his sake, he better get off to a flying start as his executive chairman Marc Watts vowed to bring "financial stability" to Goodison Park.
Watts said: "Today marks a momentous and proud occasion for The Friedkin Group as we become custodians of this iconic football club.
"We are committed to leading Everton into an exciting new era both on and off the pitch.
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"Providing immediate financial stability to the Club has been a key priority, and we are delighted to have achieved this.
"While restoring Everton to its rightful place in the Premier League table will take time, today is the first step in that journey.”
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