Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
Robert Towne’s legacy, Always Sunny’s shadow, Italian Beetlejuice and Over the Rainbow and Into the Uncanny Valley.
Let’s go!
A FAKE JAMES DEAN
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James Dean died at 24 but soon, he will be able to read you a bedtime story.
That’s because ElevenLabs, a leading AI platform that has developed deep expertise in synthesizing the human voice, has struck a licensing agreement for the voices of:
- James Dean (d. 1955)
- Judy Garland (d. 1968)
- Laurence Olivier (d. 1989)
- Burt Reynolds (d. 2018)
Their estates have signed the agreements, and ElevenLabs now has full ability to exploit their voices for its Reader App, which reads articles, PDFs, newsletters or any other written content.
What do we gain by bringing back these screen legends from the grave?
AI does not resurrect the dead (although this documentary makes the argument); it is a digital simulacrum that devalues these great artists.
I want to hear the real Judy Garland sing “Over the Rainbow,” I want to listen as James Dean screams, “You’re tearing me apart” and I want to sit in rapture as Olivier delivers a Shakespeare monologue.
For the love of God, don’t make them read lesser works that they have not agreed to.
No matter how good AI gets, human connection with other humans is the very foundation of humanity, and as storytellers, we should never lose sight of that fact.
Liza Minnelli (Garland’s daughter), in her infinite sweetness, noted that:
It’s not as if her mama’s voice is being used to promote derivatives of work in which she performed, e.g., Garland voicing a new introduction to The Wizard of Oz.
Instead, the great and mysterious voice behind the curtain will not be Garland’s but a machine. And these nefarious attempts by AI companies to inject themselves into every facet of our society, to exploit our cultural connections to beloved figures as a gateway drug to mass adoption of the technology, are poisonous.
For More:
ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, has all but admitted to stealing Scarlett Johansson’s voice.
Morgan Freeman is having his voice ripped off by AI imitators.
The AI-generated poster above is an anesthetized version of the real Rebel poster.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
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Robert Towne (writer: Chinatown) has passed away at 89. He is a monument of talent, penning some of the most compelling scripts in the history of cinema:
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967, rewrites)
- The Godfather (1972, rewrites)
- Chinatown (1974)
- Won the Oscar for best screenplay
- The best scene
- Mission: Impossible (1996)
Towne described his work:
There was a beautiful dark cynicism in his work that will live on in the pantheon of cinema.
He will be missed.
Sykdance and Paramount are back on or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Saga. After Shari Redstone, the majority shareholder of Paramount’s parent company National Amusements, canceled the deal for Skydance to take over, after 6 months of negotiations, it appears the talks are now back on. The new deal would see $1.75 bn (up from $1.7 bn) go directly to Redstone for the buyout, which would not be required to get approval from the rest of the shareholders (a sticking point on the previous deal).
Key to all this is that there’s a 45-day window for Paramount to field other offers. And they’ve been coming in hot:
- Barry Diller
- Founder/chairperson of the media company IAC
- Edgar Bronfman Jr.
- Former CEO Warner Music Group)
- Steven Paul
- Producer: Ghost in the Shell, Baby Geniuses
- Backer: John Paul DeJoria (cofounder Patrón)
- Backer: Paul Mitchell (hair care products)
At the same time Paramount is in talks to sell BET for $1.6 bn – $1.7 bn to Scott Mills, the company’s CEO, who has financing from CC Capital.
Paramount is currently being steered in two different directions. One is by the owner, Shari Redstone, who is trying to maximize her exit and reduce personal litigation. The second is by the triumvirate of CEOs who are attempting to pay down the company’s $14 bn in debt and introduce cost-cutting measures of $500 M/year.
Tidbits:
The Matt Damon and Ben Affleck led crime thriller RIP sells to Netflix. The film is directed by Joe Carnahan (writer/director: Smokin Aces, writer: Bad Boys for Life (2020).
Kirby Adams is the new head of Physical Production at Miramax. He has a strong pedigree:
Warner Bros, Senior Executive Physical Production:
- The Bride! (2025)
- Dir: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Starring: Christian Bale
MGM, EVP Physical Production:
- Road House (2024)
- Dir: Doug Liman
- Star: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Creed III (2023)
- Dir/Star: Michael B. Jordan
- Thirteen Lives (2022)
- Dir: Ron Howard
He began as a production accountant on Black Hawk Down (2001). Miramax’s new CEO Jon Glickman noted Adams’ “talent-friendly,” “deep relationships,” and “studio experience” as being the prime drivers for the hire.
Jeffrey Reddick, writer and creator of the beloved $350 M horror franchise Final Destination has signed on for Bloody: Mary Origins, a chilling new take on the classic urban legend.
Reddick will be teaming up with producer Tom Slater and his production company, Convoke Media (King of Killers), to adapt the 2014 NY Times eerie bestseller Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan.
Casting on Bloody: Mary Origins is currently underway.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
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The Always Sunny guys are trying to get out of the show’s shadow. Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day are two of the stars, creators, and writers of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a beloved deconstructed single-cam sitcom following a group of very bad people who happen to own a bar. Both have made a move outside of this scope for a long time, but now, each has joined a new limited series. Howerton joined Netflix’s Sirens, and Day joined the cast of Summer of 69.
Glenn Howerton’s psychotic portrayal of Dennis, “The Golden God,” on It’s Always Sunny has had many, many shining parts of the show (clip). Howerton left the show briefly to star in a failed NBC sitcom, he returned back to Dennis even more depraved and psychotic than before.
Howerton recently channeled his simpering rage in a biopic about Blackberry, in which he played Jim Ballslie.
His new project, Sirens, by Molly Smith Metzler, is produced by LuckyChap. The series stars Julianne Moore (May December), HBO stars Meghann Fahy (White Lotus), and Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon).
Howerton will play a yacht club bachelor who is burning through his trust fund.
Charlie Day has a bit more of a resume outside of Always Sunny; he had an expanded role in the Pacific Rim series, where he went from a helpful doctor to the sequel antagonist. He was one of the employees plotting the demise of his Terrible Boss. Most recently, he wrote, starred, and directed Fools Paradise, which follows a mute man’s shot into stardom (obviously inspired by being there).
He will co-star in Hulu’s raunchy comedy Summer of ’69, about a girl who seeks to impress her crush by learning a specific sexual position and enlisting a stripper’s help.
All the while both Howerton and Day have been hard at work at Sunny‘s upcoming 17th season.
Sirens is currently in production, Summer of 69 is shooting this month, and season 17 of Always Sunny is scheduled to drop sometime later this year.
Tidbit:
The already packed A-list ensemble attached to the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show is making room for more! Oscar winner Jeremy Irons is joining the cast in a big way as the badass but relatable news reporter Alex Levy’s (Jennifer Aniston) father.
After a substantial growth in viewership and countless nominations for its 3rd season. The 4th season of The Morning Show is currently in production.
SNL alum Molly Shannon will star in Amazon MGM’s Balls Up with Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser, an action comedy directed by Peter Farrelly for Amazon MGM Studios and produced by Skydance.
The film follows two marketing executives who are fired after mishandling a client sponsorship and end up in trouble after attending a soccer match, leading to a nationwide pursuit.
Shanon was also just cast with Steve Koren in an untitled comedy series for HBO.
FESTIVALS
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Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, DON’T SAY IT will open the Venice Film Festival.
Alberto Barbera, the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, discussed:
The film stars (Jenna Ortega) and the returning cast (Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara), each playing a different generation of the Deetz family whose attic holds a portal to the underworld and houses Michael Keaton’s Demon of the titular name.
Here’s the trailer.
Premiering at Venice on August 28th. In theaters September 6th.
The erotic thriller Emmanuelle will open the San Sebastian Festival. The film stars Noémie Merlant, who played Cate Blanchett’s assistant in Tar and starred in Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Naomi Watts also stars, and Audrey Diwan directs.
Here’s the trailer
Berline launches Perspectives. The new section will debut up to fourteen first features.
Their website states:
Launching in 2025 with a €50 K prize.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
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German/Spanish actor Daniel Brühl (Inglorious Bastards) is getting behind the camera for Nazi-Era Tennis Biopic, Break.
For Break, Brühl will be directing his All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) costar, Felix Kammerer, as Gottfried von Cramm, a German tennis champion whose rise to stardom put his life at stake against the rise of the Third Reich in 1930s Germany.
The All Quiet… producing team will be collaborating with The Ink Factory and reuniting with Kammerer and Brühl on his upcoming period piece.
When discussing Break, Brühl said:
Brühl’s directorial debut, Next Door (Nebenan) (2021) (trailer), explores gentrification and social inequality in Berlin in a comedic yet normalized manner.
His most recent acting role was in the Hulu miniseries Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, which premiered this past June. He played the titular role, which traces the designer’s rise to fame. You can watch the fabulous origin story trailer here.
He also was featured in the limited series adaptation, The Alienist (2018) (BTS), a period crime drama in which Brühl as the star, earned himself a Golden Globe nomination.
The internationally known filmmaker’s next film, Break, will be in both English and German, and no official production dates have been announced yet.
Tidbit:
Magnolia acquires the Mary-Louise Parker led sci-fi Omni Loop. Here’s the official synopsis:
A woman from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to be.
Release date Sept 20th.
Here’s a first look image of Parker with Ayo Edebiri (The Bear).
ON THIS DAY
1944. Double Indemnity, the film noir directed by Billy Wilder, is released in Baltimore, Maryland.
We’re off for the 4th of July. Happy holidays to those who celebrate.
We’ll see you Monday! .
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Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
