Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s guilt, Peter Dinklage’s twin, Ayo Edebiri’s hunt, Janus Films goes with the Flow and a leopard.

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Let’s go!

JAKE GYLLENHAAL’S KILLER INSTINCT

Jake Gyllenhaal is drawn to death.

In his most recent project, the Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent, he plays a married prosecutor accused of murdering his mistress

​The newly released trailer (below) paints two distinct sides of Gyllenhaal. One one of which is familiar territory:

1. Devoted family man
2. Man on the edge of death, as seen in:
   • Donnie Darko (2001)
   • Zodiac (2007)
   • Nightcrawler (2014)​

The latter category is the cornerstone of what makes a Gyllenhaal performance so watchable because whether he is reckoning with his own demise (Donnie Darko), hunting a killer (Zodiac), or filming deadly crimes (Nightcrawler), he is perpetually tormented.

And we like to see Gyllenhaal breaking at the seams.

In Presumed Innocent, when Gyllenhaal is caught having texted his mistress 30 times on the night of her murder, he begins to spiral, proclaiming:

What makes this performance unique is the degree to which the other characters in the series believe Gyllenhaal’s innocence will hinge entirely on his ability to convince them of his non-violent nature.

His playing against type is now a matter of life and death.

Apple TV+ is releasing Presumed Innocent on June 12.

For More:

Presumed Innocent (2024) full trailer.

Presumed Innocent is based on the novel that inspired the heart-pounding sinuous Harrison Ford original film (1990 NSFW trailer).

THE INDUSTRY NEWS

A Munsters-inspired series is busting through the front door. Universal Studio Group is adapting the beloved black and white 60’s sitcom spoof about Frank and his bride and their family of vampires and ghouls.

Universal can not let go of its dream of a cinematic universe for its monsters. It looks like James Wan (dir: Saw, Aquaman, Furious 7) is taking a different spin on the horror IP. His series, 1313, will be a more horrific reimagining of the classic Munsters sitcom and potentially another stab at that forever just out of reach MonsterVerse.

It is well documented that the Tom Cruise Mummy flop led to the demise of the previous Dark Universe. This promo photo is all we have left. (RIP).

Amazon MGM has acquired worldwide rights to Brothers starring Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage.

Here’s the official synopsis:

A reformed criminal (Brolin) whose attempt at going straight is derailed when he reunites with his sanity-testing twin brother (Dinklage) on a road trip for the score of a lifetime. Dodging bullets, the law, and an overbearing mother (Glenn Close) along the way, they must heal their severed family bond before they end up killing each other.

Brendan Fraser will also star. Max Barbakow (Palm Springs) will direct.

The movie will be released theatrically on October 1st and land on prime on October 17th.

It feels shockingly similar to the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito film Twins (trailer).

Tidbit:

Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis has sold to fourteen territories. Previously, it sold to the UK, France, and Germany. Megalopolis is still waiting for a US buyer.

THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT

Richard Jenkins plays a criminal with dementia in Amazon’s new drama series, Criminal.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Jenkins will play Ivan, Leo’s dad’s best friend, who has always been an uncle figure to him. He used to be a robber and criminal, but is now currently suffering from dementia. Leo is trying to care for him but realizes he’s more work than he can handle.​

It’s great to see Jenkins, after a long career helm his own show. The directors of the first four episodes will be Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson, Captain Marvel).

Jenkins’s sardonic wisdom is a welcome staple of his most famous characters:

• Six Feet Under (2001-2005)
  • The (dead) father of the family
  • Calling Michael C. Hall’s on his phony existential BS clip​
• Cabin in the Woods (2011)
  • Manager of the [spoiler]
  • Speakerphone scene​
• Kajillionaire (2020)
  • The most bizarre skimmer and schemer
  • ​Clip + Trailer​

We can’t wait to see what biter, cynical, reflective, yet undeniably watchable characterization he comes up with for this role.

Ayo Edebiri is nonstop! The Bear actress, Ayo Edebiri, is set to star in the next Luca Guadagnino (dir: Challengers) project, After the Hunt by Amazon MGM Studios.

While details of her role are unknown, she will act opposite Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield in the intense thriller about a college professor who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.

Ayo is most known as sous-chef Sydney alongside Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy, in FX’s majorly successful dark comedy The Bear (2022) that will soon be returning for its third season, already renewed for a fourth.

In just 2023, the highly-in-demand actress:

• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
  • Voiced Glory Grant
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
  • Voiced April O’Neil opposite Seth Rogen
• Theater Camp
  • Starred in this Sundance mockumentary comedy
• Bottoms
  • Starred
• Abbot Elementary (ABC sitcom)
  • Recurring guest role

This year, the Boston native will appear in the A24 horror film Opus and voice the role of Envy in Pixar’s Inside Out 2.

Liam Neeson’s particular set of skills now includes leading police on a cross-country chase in the Amazon-acquired action film The Mongoose. The deal was reportedly made at Cannes for a cool $20 M. Casting is still ongoing, and the official synopsis is short and sweet:

A highly decorated combat vet, Ryan ”Fang” Flanagan, is fleeing a murder scene at 130 miles an hour in a Mustang Shelby cobra GT 65.

Neeson has made his mark on the action genre and has nearly become synonymous with his Taken alter ego and phrase. This time, he will be the one being chased.

Liam Neeson Vs. Various Things:

• Taken 1-3 (2008-2014)
  • Liam Neeson vs Kidnappers
  • ​Trailer​
• The Grey (2011)
  • Liam Neeson vs. Wolves
  • ​Trailer​
• Cold Pursuit (2019)
  • Snowplough Driver Vs. Drug dealers
  • ​Trailer​

​Liam Neeson has been frequenting streamers lately; he is also planning to star in the Naked Gun remake over at Paramount+.

Tidbit:

Renate Reinsve, who won Best Actress at Cannes for The Worst Person in the World (2021) stuns in Armand (first look clip).

FESTIVALS

Film Independent selects six for their Episodic Directing Intensive.

Congratulations to:

• John Gutierrez
• Lorena Lourenço
• Huriyyah Muhammad
• Kelsey Taylor
• So Young Shelly Yo
• Alfonso Morgan-Terrero​

I can personally vouch for Morgan-Terrero’s impeccable work, as I’ve seen it burgeon over the last decade, starting from when we took documentary filmmaking together in college.

Since then, he has gone on to adapt a memoir into a feature screenplay for Kevin Hart’s company.

​Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner is Simon of the Mountain.

Official synopsis:

Seeking change, 21-year-old Simon finds purpose by befriending two disabled children who teach him to embrace life’s joys. Together, they navigate a world not designed for them, inventing their own rules for love and happiness.

​Trailer.

Hot Docs, facing a $2M deficit, closes its flagship theater and announces layoffs. This follows the late-March announcement that artistic director Hussein Currimbhoy, + 10 programmers resigned.

Hot Docs is the largest documentary festival in North America, championing the likes of Erroll Morris, Werner Herzog, and Barbara Kopple (Shut Up and Sing).

Tidbit:​

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof (Dir: Cannes Official selection The Seed Of The Sacred Fig), after escaping Iran following a brutal jail sentence, will attend his own screening.

That’s got to be a movie in itself.

INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT

Portuguese director Miguel Gomes’ romance epic Grand Tour is unlike any other film competing at Cannes.

Selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at this year’s festival, here is the official synopsis:

Rangoon, Burma, 1917. Edward, a civil servant for the British Empire, runs away from his fiancée Molly the day she arrives to get married. During his travels, however, panic gives way to melancholy. Contemplating the emptiness of his existence, the cowardly Edward wonders what has become of Molly… Determined to get married and amused by Edward’s move, Molly follows his trail on this Asian grand tour.

The film critic turned filmmaker Miguel Gomes was once previously at Cannes for Arabian Nights (2015, trailer), which screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight section. His independent black-and-white drama, Tabu (2012, trailer), has become an arthouse classic since its release, a film that Gomes directed, wrote, and edited.

Grand Tour, which Gomes also wrote, is a visceral film that takes the audience on a tour of Southeast Asia under the pretense that we are following a failing romance, showing that time both changes everything and changes nothing.

Miguel Gomes’ deadpan style and striking monochrome cinematography make for anything but a love story but rather an opportunity to fall back in love again with the world (trailer).

Gomes stated:

Yes!

Tidbits:​

Janus Films and Slidshow go with the Flow. They have acquired the beautiful animated film Flow, which revolves around a cat who hops onto Noah of the Arc-esque sailboat when their home floods. This first-loop clip has a stunningly animated scene of the vessel traveling through a quasi-Venitian city (clip).

A Megalopolis BTS doc from director Mike Figgis (dir: Leaving Las Vegas) is being finished and hopes to premiere at festivals in the fall.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Anton raises $108 M. They’re the production company behind:

• Greenland (2020)
  • Starring Gerard Butler
• His Dark Materials (2019)
  • HBO series
• Paddington 1 & 2
  • $500 M combined WW theatrical revenue

And some art-house films:

• Mothers’ Instinct (2024)
• Femme (2023)

The BlackRock-led investment will allow Anton to continue producing commercial European projects.

Sébastien Raybaud, Anton’s CEO, stated:

Anton currently has the animated film Savages screening at Cannes.

ON THIS DAY

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1963. 16th Cannes Film Festival: The Leopard, directed by Luchino Visconti, wins the Palme d’Or.

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See you Friday.
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Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.

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Editor: Gabriel Miller