Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
A Cover Story interview with the director and the writer of A24’s Sing Sing.
In The Industry News: Sony’s Kraven. DiCaprio’s biopic. Doug Liman goes Deeper.
Actor Spotlight: Denzel Washington’s ferocious greed. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Luck.
Festivals and Resources: Gladiator II screenplay.
Tech Section: MPC’s new P.
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight: Eli Roth and In The Loop’s producer.
International News: Czech Oscar entry Waves and a Cannes short.
Let’s go!
A24’s Sing Sing is a rare non-violent prison film.
I sat down with director Greg Kwedar and writer Clint Bentley to discuss how they architected an impeccable movie that leaned deep into the humanity of incarcerated men.
One of the most striking elements Kwedar and Bentley achieved was Colman Domingo’s (Rustin, The Color Purple) character arch.
Domingo plays Divine G, incarcerated at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit. He starts as a generous reformer, helping a closed-up incarcerated man named Clarence find his purpose in a theatre group, but becomes deeply bitter by the end.
Through the process of filming, Kweder discovered something richer:
“I was realizing [Domingo’s] maybe not actually so open in the beginning. He's a little bit performative. It's a mask, and the journey of his character is to finally put that down and for us to see his wounds.”
Kweder continued:
“He needed a friend [Clarance], and I think the circumstances itself to become this gauntlet. For his soul to travel through and come out finally liberated in the literal and figurative sense.”
Domingo’s slow, painful unmasking operates in perfect harmony with the incarcerated man, Clarence, who sheds his prickly exterior. They are both performative, but through performing in the theater troupe, they actualize who they are.
Bentley shared:
“And through their friendship of opening each other up and each being very different people but giving the other person what they need even though they don't know what that is until the other person draws that out of them.”
This dual dynamic serves as the rich humanity that is infectious in Sing Sing. The film not only dismantles preconceptions about incarceration and identity, it is an empathetic and profound celebration of the humanity of its characters.
For More:
I interviewed director Greg Kwedar and writer Clint Bentley about Sing Sing yesterday. They broke down how they secured financing two weeks before production and how they got Colman Domingo to sign onto the project without reading a script:
https://theindustry.co/p/a24-director-greg-kwedar-sing-sing
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
SONY is desperate for you to go see Kraven: So much so that they have released the first 8 minutes of the film on YouTube to try and resuscitate a limp predicted box office of less than $25 M. Things are looking dire for Kraven, but no matter what Kraven is or how it will fare, it is not another Madame Web. There are two elements that might potentially save Kraven from an absolute disaster, and this 8-minute sneak peek displays both.
Unlike Madame Webb and Morbius, Kraven is R-rated; the entirely Russian 8 minutes give us some good grisly neck-stabbing and back-breaking; there is a chance with violence like that, it can be a turn-of-your-brain dumb fun movie. The previous trailer promises even more grisly deaths rambo style. As the superhero audience grows older, this type of schlocky violence might get them out of the recent superhero malaise, despite the bad taste Madame Webb and, to a lesser extent, Venom left in audiences’ mouths.
There is a heart to Kraven that is just not present in previous entries. The natural charisma of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the dedication and passion of Director J.C. Chandor, who fought for reshoots after the first trailer missed the mark, those reshoots should be said are mostly what appears in the released footage. This could be what makes Kraven over-perform the dire mess it's in now.
Watch the first 8 minutes here.
The saga of Sony's spidermanless Spider-Man universe is in its death throws. Madame Webb's disaster, compounded by Morbius' past blunders and not even Venom 3 doing ok in international markets, will alleviate the damage that SONY has done to this IP.
But now we reach the newest and possibly last of the SSSMU their final chance, and it seems like even passion, markedly better writing is absolutely being haunted by past mistakes, and that spectator is dragging down Sony's last chance to keep hold of the biggest asset. But there's a bit of hope in this Hail Mary; it could lead to a win for Sony, even though they absolutely don't deserve it. I'd hate to find out what they would do with that lesson.
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Iconic primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, shortly after her 90th birthday, is getting the biopic treatment with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Disney. The screenplay is being penned by New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton (Emma), with a director not yet announced.
Goodall, in a male-dominated field, redefined what it means to be a human and set the standard for how behavioral studies are conducted through her nearly sixty years of studying and working closely with wild chimpanzees. The monkey expert is no stranger to film as many documentaries have recounted her trailblazing life and work, including Brett Morgen’s National Geographic doc Jane (2017).
The monkey whisperer has previously worked with Disney through their Disneynature label. Goodall is also collaborating with Appian as a producer on Howl, a live-action feature currently in pre-production about an abandoned dog and a wolf’s survival journey during a harsh Canadian winter.
The Goodall biopic is currently in the early stages of development, with no lead actress cast as of now.
Tidbit:
Doug Liman goes Deeper. The Edge of Tomorrow filmmaker is becoming a first-time horror director with Deeper, starring Tom Cruise, currently set up at Warner Bros.
Here’s the synopsis:
An astronaut who encounters a terrifying force while on a deep dive into a never-before-explored trench.
This is NOT the much talked about Liman/Cruise filming in space project… that project is with Universal.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Denzel Washington is almost always the best part of any project he’s attached to, and Sir Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II is no exception.
The two-time Oscar winner stars alongside the film’s lead, Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers), The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal, Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn, and Connie Nielsen, reprising her role in this long-awaited sequel.
The Training Day actor plays Macrinus, a gladiator-turned-arms and slave trader with political aspirations; Washington is always at his best when he’s playing characters who wrestle with moral questions and personal shortcomings. Effective due to Denzel’s acting decisions, Macrinus is driven by anger and greed but has no problem using his quick wit and charm to outsmart all in his way, acting as the invisible hand that guides this story.
So much of Gladiator II (trailer) hews to the path of comfortable familiarity, either playing off of or directly referencing the original Best Picture winner from 20 years ago, but Washington’s character is a wildcard, completely unpredictable, yet at the same time his subtle but purposeful depiction tells you exactly who this character is from his first minute on screen.
Washington’s previous collaboration with Scott was his part biopic, part mob thriller American Gangster (2007, trailer), where he played opposite Russel Crowe, antihero Frank Lucas chronicling his rise from Harlem drug lord to the king of New York’s heroin trade in the 1970s. No one does bad like Denzel does bad (interrogation scene).
Anya Taylor-Joy is back on the small screen. She stars in a new series for Apple TV+ called Lucky.
Here’s the breakdown:
Star/EP: Taylor-Joy
Creator/Co-showrunner/writer/EP: Jonathan Tropper (writer: The Adam Project, EP/writer: Apple TV+’s See)
Co-showrunner: Cassie Pappas (Co-EP/writer: Silo)
Production Company: Hello Sunshine (Reese Witherspoon)
Distributor: Apple TV+
Synopsis:
A young woman (Taylor-Joy) who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago, but must now embrace her darker, criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past.
Taylor-Joy has been embracing her dark side since her debut in The Witch (2015) and went on to win minds and hearts in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit (2020) and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024). She is a celestial performer and alluringly cunning.
Tidbit:
French-Danish actor Niels Arestrup is leaving behind a legendary stage and screen career, passing away from an illness at 75. Arestrup was often a leading man for famed director Jacques Audiard’s films, winning a César award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a criminal father in The Beat that My Heart Skipped (2005, trailer) and his memorable performance as a Corsican mob boss in A Prophet (2009, clip). American audiences would recognize his work in Steven Spielberg’s award-winning WWI story, War Horse (2011). He was a strong presence in both French and American cinema alike, and he will be greatly missed.
Jason Clarke, who starred in Zero Dark Thirty, has been cast in a new Hulu limited series about the infamous Murdaugh family, who have been the subject of multiple docuseries and news specials ever since their scandal broke.
Show Description:
Is based on Maggie (Patricia Arquette) and Alex Murdaugh’s (Clarke) stranger than fiction family drama, a riveting account drawing from countless hours of reporting by Mandy Matney - journalist and creator of the popular ‘Murdaugh Murders Podcast’ - as well as exclusive, insider knowledge from years spent following the case.
I recently saw Terminator Genisys (2015) and although the film is deeply problematic as a time travel film, as I break out in my essay:
https://theindustry.co/p/a-brief-history-of-time-travel-films
Clarke is wonderfully evil as John Connor.
FESTIVALS AND RESOURCES
Read David Scarpa’s Gladiator II screenplay here:
https://theindustry.co/p/prospective-best-screenplay-academy
Ridley Scott directs. Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal star.
TECH SECTION
David Conley is now the president of MPC. In the world of VFX, they reign supreme. They’ve had a prolific run:
Napoleon (2023)
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Dune (2021)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Most recently, Conley served as the EP at Wētā; here are two major projects he oversaw:
Avatar: The Way of Water
HBO’s The Last of Us
From the MPC press brief: His expertise in managing complex, large-scale productions while fostering collaboration between creative and technical teams has earned him a reputation as one of the most respected figures in the industry.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Second Helpings: Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (2023) started as a fake trailer in Grindhouse (2007). Humble beginnings that lead to an incredibly fun slasher. Now, the Thanksgiving sequel is on its way.
Roth has just announced it starts filming in March, aiming for a small budget like the original's $15M and to hit a release window mirroring its namesake. Thanksgiving has surprisingly become Roth's best-rated film, being so successful it was greenlit for a sequel 3 weeks into its theatrical release. Roth seems excited, saying:
“There’s a lot of setting up that we did in the first one that we don’t have to deal with now. It can just be all pay-off… I’ve come up with stuff that is going to be a challenge. And I want it to be a challenge to pull off. Because if I’ve come up with the stuff that I think will make the best kills, then I’m going to do it like I’m never going to make another movie again.”
Thanksgiving toes the line between B-movie horror and brutal slasher, the perfect combo for maximum horror-holiday fun; check out the trailer. You will never look at corn on the Cobb skewers the same again (trailer).
Renowned British comedy writer Armando Iannucci (Veep, In The Loop) has launched Touchscreen, a new production company co-founded with producer Kevin Loader (Nowhere Boy) and development producer Charlotte Draper (Avenue 5). Partnering with BBC Studios, the company will focus on developing scripted projects for UK and global audiences while mentoring emerging British talent.
Mark Linsey, President of Scripted at BBC Studios stated:
“I’m delighted that BBC Studios is going to be in partnership with Armando and Touchscreen. Developing new British talent is critical for the future of our creative industry.”
Iannucci will continue his HBO collaboration alongside this venture.
Tidbit:
Thomas Benski (Producer: Gangs of London, American Honey), co-founder of Pulse Films, has unveiled Lumina, a global media group operating in London, New York, Paris, and Los Angeles. Lumina will focus on talent-driven studios, kids’ content, and consumer brands. With partnerships like Carrousel Studios and Wayward Films, Lumia is targeting $55M+ in first-year revenue.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Jacob Elordi and Ciarán Hinds portray the same character at different life stages in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a five-part Australian war drama directed by Justin Kurzel. Based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, the series follows Dorrigo Evans—a young man in a passionate love affair, a POW in Burma, and later, a revered yet troubled surgeon. The book it is based on was critically acclaimed and Elordis star continues to rise, choosing very interesting roles. The Narrow Road to the Deep North will debut on Prime Video in select regions before airing on BBC One in the U.K. The release date is currently unannounced.
Potential Oscar-contending short drama The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (L’homme qui ne se taisait pas) tells the true, harrowing story set in the early 90s of a passenger train that is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them. The trailer shows just a glimpse of the powerful and horrific train ride from French director Nebojša Slijepčevic. The short film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this past May and seems like a must-watch.
A familiar story, Czech Oscar entry Waves from writer-director Jiří Mádl tells the compelling story set in the spring of 1968 in Prague following the brave journalists and radio hosts choosing to ignore the government’s propaganda machine and instill hope for a community forced under the violent and controlling rule of the Russian military. In Mádl’s audience award-winning thriller drama, he chooses to focus on a younger, still hopeful generation for whom political freedom is inextricably entwined with sex, music, and fun.
ON THIS DAY
1930. Jean-Luc Godard is born in Paris.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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