Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
DC’s Man, Legendary’s Lion, and a Ghost Eater.
Let’s go!
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David Corenswet, star of the new Superman, puts the humanity into the superhero.
On paper, an indestructible goody-goody alien seems harshly opposed to existing in our current world.
We have had a trend of superhero movies leaning most of all on realism, and yes, that overused word "gritty.” Corenswet's Superman rejects that.
In the latest film, he seems happy to exist as more of an archetype and, yes, even a character. He doesn't have it all figured out, and that sentiment is so refreshing to see from a god.
He feels deeply for every human being and even goes through a bit of an existential crisis. Smiling all the way through, and realizing the weight of the symbol on his chest.
Relatively green when he received the audition, he went from his Juilliard training into a recurring role in Ryan Murphy's The Politician and had an overlooked role in the horror prequel Pearl, to now being one of the most universally recognized symbols in the world.
There is a penchant for audiences to be unable to separate the actor from the mantle a peek at careers like Luke Skywalker’s Mark Hamill, and even as far back as the original Superman George Reeves (not to be confused with Christopher Reeve) who famously had a part cut down in a war flick after test audiences laughed and reacted badly to seeing him out of the cape.
Corenswet has a huge responsibility and a requirement to stay sweet and earnest during a time that doesn't always respect those qualities.
I hope Corenswet's career is vastly varied and long, but it's already set for me: this is my Superman.
For More:
Superman trailer.
In Ryan Murphy's The Politician clip, a pre-Superman David Corenswet.
Corenswet gets killed in this A24 film.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Legendary is in early talks to acquire Lionsgate.
Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings) is running for SAG-AFTRA president.
Tulsa King spinoff NOLA King loses showrunner Dave Erickson.
South Park pulled internationally from Paramount+.
CBS sets fall premiere dates for Watson, FBI, Matlock, and Elsbeth.
Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing return for Practical Magic 2.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jay Duplass join Prime’s Sterling Point.
Sense and Sensibility adds Esmé Creed-Miles.
Better Go Mad in the Wild wins Karlovy Vary Festival.
Sundance 2025 Producers Lab announces fellows.
Ghost Eaters, produced by Scott Derrickson, heads to Screen Gems.
Eddie Huang’s Vice Is Broke doc to be released by Mubi.
WWII spy biopic The Partisan stars Malcolm McDowell.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Lionsgate, fresh off the split from Starz, is already attracting buyers. Legendary (Dune trilogy, Godzilla x Kong, Interstellar, A Minecraft Movie) is considering a buy. Lionsgate, now trading as LION, has a current market cap of $2bn with a $4.6bn valuation.
Legendary (founded by billionaire Thomas Tull) may have a lower valuation than Lionsgate, but it is currently backed to the tune of $760M by Apollo Global, which manages $751bn in assets. Apollo is trying to expand further into the film industry and last year made an $11bn (unsuccessful) bid for Paramount.
Lionsgate is also about 8 times larger in terms of personnel than Legendary, which has 180 employees.
To kick off the potential acquisition, Lionsgate and Legendary will co-produce upcoming films.
Sean Astin (LOTR’s Samwise Gamgee) is on another mission to save his other homeland—LA. He will run for SAG-AFTRA president (Fran Drescher, current pres may not be running).
Sean has served on the SAG-AFTRA national and LA Local boards since 2021.
The full list of candidates drops this week, with elections happening Aug 13 - Sept 12th.
Tidbit:
Skydance Sports (Amazon MGM’s Madden) has joined Hyde Park Entertainment’s (Ghost Rider 2, 99 Homes) Arthur Ashe biopic, with The Inspection director Elegance Bratton in talks to helm. Written by Oscar-winner Kevin Willmott (BlacKkKlansman), the film chronicles Ashe’s rise as a tennis champion and civil rights activist.
NOLA King, a spinoff of the Stallone-led Tulsa King, loses their showrunner. Dave Erickson (prod. Sons of Anarchy) is currently showrunning season three of Tulsa and is no longer attached to the potential Paramount spinoff due to scheduling conflicts. NOLA King has not officially been greenlit. No word on a replacement.
Ah, god damnit, part 2: Things have taken a bad turn in the battle between South Park and Paramount+, compounding legal disputes and season delays, all episodes of South Park have now been taken off the streaming platform for every territory outside the US. As far as we know, the season should appear July 23rd on Comedy Central. Trailer here.
Always chasing its Mario billion, Nintendo is partnering with Universal to copyright a Donkey Kong movie. Nintendo has had bananas on the brain as of late, their latest 3D platformer, Donkey Kong Bananza, releases later this July, and they are capitalising on the hype by seemingly moving forward with a brand new movie. DK (Seth Rogan) had a guest appearance in the Mario movie as well. Wrong mushroom clip.
Mini Tidbit:
Range Media Partners has just lost one of their lit managers, Matt Baldovsky. Baldovsky has reps Munis Rashid (wri: The Night Agent), and Hank Jones (wri: Will Trent), Amy York Rubin (Dir: Dead to Me).
Gersh hires and fires. Hires: Chris Horsma (client: Shōgun’s Takehiro Hira), former talent agent at CAA. Fires: Mike Staudt (Client: Mortal Kombat’s Lewis Tan).
Release Dates:
Amazon MGM’s Verity
Dir: Michael Showalter (The Idea of You)
Cast: Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson
Release date pushed: May 15, 2026 → Oct 2, 2026
CBS’ Watson (S2)
Release date: Monday, Oct 13
CBS’ FBI (S8)
Release date: Monday, Oct 13
CBS’ Matlock (S2)
Release date: Thursday, Oct. 16
CBS’ Elsbeth (S3)
Release date: Thursday, Oct. 16
CBS’ Ghosts (S5)
Release date: Thursday, Oct. 16
CIA will have a midseason premiere (e.g., Jan-Apr 2026)
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
“There’s a little witch in all of us.”
Oscar winner Dianne Wiest (The Birdcage) is back as the nurturing Aunt Jet in the upcoming Practical Magic sequel. She’s joined not only by Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as the magical Owen sisters, but her right-hand Stockard Channing as the commanding Franny is also signed on to reprise her role.
It has been over 25 years since the first film (trailer), which followed the sisters being raised in a magical household by their eccentric aunts.
Some exciting newcomers are also joining the iconic cast:
Lee Pace (Apple TV’s Foundation)
Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones)
Production is currently underway with Practical Magic 2 playing in theaters on September 18th, 2026.
They’ve officially cast the Sensibility of Sense and Sensibility.
Esmé Creed-Miles (Amazon’s Hanna) will play Daisy Edgar-Jones' sister in Focus Features’ upcoming Sense and Sensibility adaptation. Miles will play Marianne Dashwood, the emotional younger sister to Edgar-Jones’ Elinor, in the newest reimagining of the classic Jane Austen story.
The young actress most recently starred in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, the Cannes drama The Chronology of Water (2025). This will be Miles’ first go at a period romance lead in a role that was previously played by Kate Winslet in the 1995 version.
Filming is set to begin next month.
Tidbits:
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead) and Jay Duplass (Industry) will have recurring roles in Sterling Point, a YA ensemble drama from Megan Park for Prime Video. The series follows twins Annie and Connor, who inherit a mysterious island. We loved Duplass recently in the recent Dying for Sex as the wet noodle husband of the sexually liberated Michelle Williams
BBC’s I May Destroy You’s Weruche Opia has been cast in ABC’s drama pilot RJ Decker. The series is based on Double Whammy, a 1987 novel by Carl Hiaasen. In a series regular role, Opia will play Shay Bennett, the unpredictable daughter of a corrupt state senator.
Another Yellowstone spinoff is in the works, and actor Finn Little is set to reprise his role of Carter, the “adopted” son of Beth and Rip. The untitled Paramount series has not yet started production.
Casting announcements for Netflix's Trinity:
James Remar (It: Welcome to Derry)
Bruce Greenwood (I, Robot)
The series follows a Naval officer who becomes entangled in a high-level conspiracy involving the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
FESTIVALS
Karlovy Vary Film Festival, home of a menagerie of indie gems, has announced the winners:
The Crystal Globe (Top Prize):
Better Go Mad in the Wild
Dir: Miro Remo (Slovak documentary filmmaker)
Synopsis:
Twin brothers Franta and Ondra share everything in Sumava Mountains. Though identical, their souls differ - Franta seeks freedom while Ondra needs routine. Their unbreakable bond faces the ultimate test.
The trailer is eccentric and surreal. Sadly, the lead actor/subject Franta has just died at 62.
Special Jury Prize (2nd Place)
Bidad
Dir/Wri/Prod/Edi: Soheil Beiraghi
Synopsis:
Seti loves music and singing, and she yearns for her voice to be heard. The young girl decides to engage in her own personal protest. The street becomes her stage, and random passers-by become her enthusiastic audience.
The Best Director Award
Nathan Ambrosioni (Out of Love)
Vytautas Katkus (The Visitor)
Full list of Karlovy Vary winners here.
Intra Movies (Paradise is Burning) picks up Mosquitoes, premiering at Locarno.
Synopsis:
Three mischievous and wise girls form a trio called The Mosquitoes, claiming their right to a real childhood in a world where their parents neglect them and refuse to read fairy tales.
The co-director, Valentina Bertani’s previous doc The Crown Shyness (premiere Venice Days section) was previously picked up by Intra Movies.
San Sebastian Film Festival has dropped its first wave of films screening.
Amongst those are:
Los Tigres (Movistar Plus+)
Synopsis:
Antonio and Estrella are diving brothers. He works in maritime works, she studies underwater life and assists him. Its precarious economy could improve after finding cocaine hidden in the hull of a ship anchored in Huelva.
She Walks in Darkness (Netflix) - Not in competition
Synopsis:
A young Spanish civil guard goes undercover within ETA, the Basque separatist group, spending over a decade locating their hideouts in the South of France.
Producer: J.A. Bayona (Society of Snow).
Full list here.
Sundance 2025 Producers Lab. Fellows were announced.
Here are the standouts:
Ryan Bobkin
AP: Infinity Pool (2023)
April S. Chang
AP: The Bikeriders (2023)
Daniel Tantalean
Producer: Sundance-winner, In the Summers (2024)
Full list here.
Mini Tidbit:
Blue Finch Films (Sales Rep: IFC’s Oddity) has picked up In Cold Vein and Blockhead (epic poster). Both films will premiere at FrightFest, which kicks off on August 21st.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Producer Scott Derrickson (dir: The Black Phone, Doctor Strange) and Maggie Levin (co-Dir: V/H/S, 2nd Unit Dir: The Black Phone) are adapting Ghost Eaters, Clay McLeod Chapman’s acclaimed horror novel, for Screen Gems.
Levin will write and direct, with Derrickson producing via his Crooked Highway banner. Derrickson’s writing partner, C. Robert Cargill (The Black Phone, The Gorge), will produce.
The story follows friends who take a drug that lets them see and converse with the dead. Right up Derrickson’s alley, as Black Phone also centered on the ability to communicate with the dead.
It’s not a new trend, but there’s a softness, almost anti-horror, to Derrickson’s approach. We’ll see if Levin leans into this approach.
Tidbit:
HBO announced Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a two-part, five-hour documentary exploring Joel’s musical legacy, fame struggles, personal trauma, and classical influences. Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with family, ex-wives, bandmates, and stars like Springsteen and McCartney. It should give a sneak peek into the mind of one of our most brilliant hit makers. Airing July 18. Trailer.
IFC’s Abraham Boys: A Dracula Story takes a new twist on the vampire film, focusing on the prolific Van Helsing and his sons, as they prepare for a final stand against Dracula. An adaptation of Joe Hill's short story and directed by Natasha Kermani, it premiered this weekend at IFC in partnership with Shudder. The trailer has an eerie dreariness as Van Helsing instructs his sons in the ways of the family business.
What happened to Vice? The network/brand/TV show was the definition of cool. Spike Jonze was the artistic director. Sean Penn was directing docs for them. And they were valued at $5.7bn. But they filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Eddie Huang, restaurateur and creator of the Vice show Huang’s World, has a new doc about this downfall, Vice is Broke. It premiered at TIFF, and Mubi will release on August 29th. Trailer.
Biographical spy thriller, The Partisan starring Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) announces its theatrical release. From director James Marquand (Dead Man’s Cards), the film is set during World War II and focuses on one of Britain’s premier female spies, Krystyna Skarbek. In theaters this October.
ON THIS DAY
1969. Easy Rider is released.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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