Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
Gladiator 2, Paramount’s new/old billionaire, Richard Gere is a spy, Steve McQueen takes London, Donald Glover’s New World and a Romeo killer.
Let’s go!
RIDLEY SCOTT: A GLADIATOR’S HEART
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Ridley Scott is battling for eternity.
With the upcoming release of Gladiator 2 so quickly on the heels of Napoleon (2023), Scott is taking to heart Russell Crowe’s mantra in the original Gladiator (2000):
“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”
The imagery coming out of the first look is one for the ages:
- Gladiators in the Colosseum (still)
- Pedro Pascal’s general of war (still)
- Denzel Washington and the Golden Throne (still)
- Ridley Scott commanding his Gladiator (still)
Scott discussed the updated thematic terrain of the sequel:
“The leadership is in total chaos. We have demagogues—that’s a good word. The people who are in charge are out of their minds, and everyone is too afraid to contradict. That’s familiar ground right now.”
One of the central characters, played by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), is a man wrecked with regret, uncertain of his path but driven by an insatiable thirst for power.
Pascal explained:
“What human beings will do to survive, but also what human beings will do to win. We see that in the arena…. Where’s the space for humanity? Where’s the space for love, familial connection? And ultimately, will those things overcome this kind of greed and power?”
Scott’s thirst for power is manifested in a hunger to solidify his legacy through vaulting his only best picture winner, Gladiator, to be a mass audience success.
And it will need to be; the budget ballooned to $310+ M. The stakes are high, and the world will be watching.
Gladiator 2 is set to release on November 22, 2024.
For More:
Gladiator (2000) trailer.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
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The return of the king. Billionaire Barry Diller, who was the head of Paramount Pictures in 1974-1984 is making a bid for the company. Diller and Paramount have signed a non-disclosure agreement, the first step in trading confidential information.
Diller is the founder/chairperson of the media company IAC which owns:
- Dotdash Meredith
- People
- Entertainment
- Travel + Leisure
- Daily Beast
This is a bit of a throwback for Diller, who tried to acquire Paramount in the ’90s but lost to Sumner Redstone, whose daughter Shari Redstone now holds a majority stake in National Amusements, Paramount’s parent company.
Redstone recently made the bombshell decision to pull out of a deal that would have seen Skydance takeover the company.
Currently, Paramount+, the streaming service, and Max (Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service) are considering a possible merger. Paramount is currently in need of a lifeline to reduce its $14 bn in debt and this is one way to prop up its streaming service and reduce churn.
IATSE reached a tentative agreement with AMPTP last week. They have just released a summary of the basic agreement. Deal points include:
- General Wage Improvements
- ↑ 7%, Year 1
- ↑ 4%, Year 2
- ↑ 3.5%, Year 3
- Increased pension benefits
- Streaming residuals
- Double time after 12 hrs, Triple time after 15hrs
- AI protections
Workers will be allowed to use AI, as long as the prompts don’t displace someone’s job.
$700 M in streaming residuals will flow into the health pension plans over the next three years.
Ratification will be voted on July 14 and 17th.
Romeo Killer. The Indian Action film Kill, releasing July 4th, is getting an English-language remake by Lionsgate and Chad Stahelski’s (dir: John Wick) production company 87Eleven.
It’s all part of Stahelski’s first-look deal with Lionsgate.
Kill follows a similar formula as the first John Wick film, with an extended first act of no action, with a newly engaged couple with a storybook romance going for a train ride, only to get separated by stock bad guys.
The rest of the film is non-stop, high-intensity, tactical, high-gore action (trailer).
Stahelski stated:
“Kill is one of the most vivid, wild, and creative action movies I’ve seen recently… Nikhil [director] delivers relentless action sequences that need to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. It’s exciting to be developing an English-language version—we have big shoes to fill…”
No word on whether Stahelski will direct.
Tidbits:
Netflix’s newest female-driven dark comedy, Sirens, is headlined by Oscar winner Julianne Moore (May December) and HBO stars Meghann Fahy (White Lotus) and Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon).
The limited series, created by Emmy-nominated writer Molly Smith Metzler (Maid), is an adaptation of her play Elemeno Pea and will be produced by Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment.
Silence of the Lambs at a Taylor Swift Concert? That was M. Night Shyamalan’s pitch for his latest film Trap.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.
Here is the twisty new trailer, with Josh Hartnett starring as the father.
Shyamalan is overdue for a comeback. What feels unique about this film is how tightly it is tied to Hartnett’s POV, which is significant given the twist.
Trap is set to release on August 9th.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
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First music, now movies! R&B artist turned actor Tyrese Gibson is set to star in Lionsgate’s 1992, a crime thriller with Snoop Dogg signed on as EP via his production company, Death Row Pictures.
The 1992 trailer shows Mercer (Gibson) desperately trying to rebuild his life and his relationship with his son (Christopher A’mmanuel) amidst the turbulent 1992 LA uprising following the Rodney King verdict.
Gibson shared the history and his real-life connection with 1992:
“This is a real movie that’s based out of the West, historically from the West. When the Rodney King verdict came in and they let all the police officers off and said ‘Not guilty’, we burned the city down. And in the midst of that, there was a heist that took place.”
Gibson clearly feels very connected to his roles and their stories as he has been featured in major franchises over the course of his acting career, including:
- Fast & Furious films
- Was Paul Walker’s best friend Roman Pearce in 7 of the 10 films in the expansive action saga
- Best of Roman Pearce
- Transformers films
- Portrayed Sergeant Robert Epps opposite Shia LaBeouf in Michael Bay’s sci-fi trilogy
- Clip from the 1st Transformers (2007)
- Marvel’s Morbius (2019)
- Starred alongside Jared Leto in the Sony Spider-Man spinoff
- Clip
1992 is premiering in theaters nationwide on Aug. 30th.
Tidbits:
Patrick Brammall (star: Colin from Accounts, trailer) will star as police detective Ian Hunt in Apple TV+’s crime thriller The Dispatcher, based on Ryan David Jahn’s book.
The series follows Hunt’s desperate search for his missing daughter, who he believes was abducted, after receiving a distress call he thinks is from her.
Richard Gere is a former spy. No I’m not talking about The Double (2011)– Gere has joined the cast of The Agency alongside Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright. Gere will star as the London Station Chief who previously served as an undercover agent.
Internet personality and musician Rudy Mancuso has just been cast in Welcome to Derry, HBO’s It prequal. Mancuso recently made his directorial debut with Música, a coming-of-age story about an aspiring creator (Mancuso) with synesthesia.
FESTIVALS
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BFI London Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Steve McQueen’s Blitz.
Here’s the official synopsis:
George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, ensues on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
McQueen stated:
“Blitz is a movie about Londoners. It honors the spirit of what and how Londoners endured during the blitz, but also explores the true representation of people in London, while at its core is the story of a working-class family desperate to be reunited during times of war.”
McQueen (Widows, Shame, Hunger), wrote, directed, and produced the film.
Blitz is an Apple Original and will stream November 22nd.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
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Donald Glover is putting his alter-ego, five-time Grammy winner Childish Gambino, to rest with the final soundtrack for his newest film, Bando Stone & The New World.
The film stars Glover (who also directed) as a musician stuck in an apocalypse with no conceivable skills to battle the alien-like lasers and rogue monsters that chase him.
The trailer is wonderfully fun. We see the dark humor Glover has been known for ever since he cultivated it as the creator and star of Atlanta.
Fans have pointed out that this may actually be a story continuation or reinterpretation of a previous music video for Telegraph Ave. Though the video is from 9 years ago, Glover wears the same shirt in the trailer for Brando Stone, and the two definitely share themes.
Ever one to mix his mediums Glover seems to think multifaceted for his album releases. His previous album, Because The Internet, shipped with a screenplay, and the short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons is implied to be a continuation of that character’s story.
One of the greatest comedic minds of his generation and a true world-builder, we are sad to Gambino go but are excited to see what Glover comes up with next.
Brando Stone arrives along with the album this summer, the first single drops July 2nd (Today).
One of France’s leading filmmakers, Mia Hansen-Løve to direct If Love Should Die, a biopic about the visionary English philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft produced by Mubi.
The official synopsis reads:
Set “on the eve of the French Revolution”, concerning an impoverished young English woman who makes the bold decision to lead her life according to the ideals of the Enlightenment.
When discussing her upcoming film, the French director shared:
“My ambition is to capture with as much acuity and truth as possible this pivotal era and the life of a woman that cinema has never before looked at. Iconic in England, Mary Wollstonecraft is not known in France. That suits me: making a film about a figure who is too predictable, or too famous, has never interested me. I am attracted to characters engaged in a quest, devoid of certainties. The souls of artists, no doubt, but I am inspired by the most fragile, the most vulnerable among them.”
The romantic drama One Fine Morning (2022) (trailer), Hansen-Løve’s most recent project, which she wrote and directed, was loved by audiences and even won the award for Best European Film at its world premiere at Cannes.
If Love Should Die is expected to have a 2026 release.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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Fox’s free streaming service, Tubi, launches in the U.K. on July 2. Led by CEO Anjali Sud, Tubi boasts over 80 million monthly users, challenging other platforms with its focus on on-demand viewing. The service will offer an expansive library, including over 20K movies and TV episodes, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to Nollywood gems and arthouse cinema.
Sud stated:
“Tubi has spent the last decade honing our approach to vast, free and fun streaming in North America, and we feel that now is the perfect time to bring that recipe to U.K. audiences.”
This move increases Tubi’s global footprint and caters to the evolving demands of a culturally diverse audience in a landscape where Netflix has gone very wide in international series, providing a recipe for global breakouts like Squid Game and, more recently, Baby Reindeer.
ON THIS DAY
1991. Boyz n the Hood, directed by John Singleton, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ice Cube is released.
See you Wednesday.
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Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
