Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
A24’s Chainsaw, Universal’s Summer, and Turpentine.
Let’s go!
If you enjoy today’s edition, please hit the like button or leave a comment.
A24’s reboot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre brings on director Curry Barker.
This is the signal that a brand-new voice in horror has not just arrived, but has been anointed to royalty.
Barker’s sophomore feature was TIFF 2025’s fan-favorite horror, Obsession, which Focus Features picked up for $14M.
While it wasn’t Focus’s typical prestige fare (think Conclave, The Holdovers, Tár) and has a mostly unknown cast, the acquisition tracks with Donna Langley’s (Chairperson: NBCU, parent company Focus Features) wise words:
“I’m seeing a shift in horror. Auteur directors are turning to horror. Not horror as we came to know it in the past decade. It’s the weirder the better.”
While Obsession has not yet been released (it’s out May 15th), A24 has already granted Barker the keys to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.
It’s a big endorsement as the IP has had a string of unsuccessful reboot attempts:
Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
Bombed by the critics
Leatherface (2017)
Straight to VOD
Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Poorly received by fans
Barker’s Obsession adds new dimensions of terror to being love-bombed. Perhaps this A24 version will dig into the psychology of Leatherface’s own obsession with killing. Not an origin story, but something that elevates him back into a film horror icon.
For more:
Obsession trailer.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Terence and Rachel Winter are developing an adult animated hotel series.
Rachel Shukert (The 'Burbs) signs overall deal with Universal Studio Group’s UCP.
Amazon MGM is adapting Miles High Club for TV.
Peacock is developing family drama Summer People from Emily Goldwyn.
Melissa McCarthy in talks to star in Craig Zobel’s thriller Turpentine for T-Street.
Kumail Nanjiani joins indie sci-fi thriller Green Bank, directed by Josh Ruben.
Jesse Garcia cast in HBO Max police drama American Blue.
Naomi Ackie wraps thriller-drama To Make Ends Meat selling at Cannes market.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has joined Hulu drama Southern Bastards as a guest star.
Liza Colón-Zayas cast in Halle Berry’s Paris-set erotic thriller, Fleur.
Tribeca’s TV lineup includes HBO docs and an Amazon series.
Neon is expanding Sam Evenson’s short Mora into a feature.
FilmLA is introducing reduced-cost permits for low-impact shoots in LA.
Prime sells Anna Kendrick & J.K. Simmons action series Embassy to 6 territories.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Germany, Sandra Bullock’s country of dual citizenship.
52% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Animation from The Sopranos writer. Emmy-winner Terence Winter (Wri. of HBO’s The Sopranos) and his wife Rachel Winter (Producer: Dallas Buyers Club) are developing an adult animated show called Nouvelle.
Inspired by Jacob Tomsky’s memoir Heads in Beds, the show follows staff, guests, and owners of a New York luxury hotel. The pilot will be about the death of a famous politician after an encounter with a sex worker at the hotel.
The duo described the show as a modern Upstairs/Downstairs (critically acclaimed 70s U.K. drama about social class clash, trailer), which will juxtapose the fantasy of the high-life in New York City with the reality of the have-nots.
It would be interesting to see Winter’s realistic dialogue and depiction of the cruel world of crime seep into an animation about class struggle.
Three More Book Adaptations:
Universal Studio Group
Amazon MGM Studios
Hollywood Ventures Group
Tidbits:
Peacock is developing family drama Summer People, from Emily Goldwyn (prod. Emily in Paris), Bill Krebs (prod. Good Girls), and Universal Television. The story follows three wealthy families and their nannies as a summer getaway is upended by a shocking death.
Celebrity Jeopardy, Pop Culture Jeopardy, and now ESPN Jeopardy are moving forward at Disney+ and Hulu. Monday Night Football broadcaster Joe Buck will host the newest sports-focused edition of Jeopardy.
Final verdict. Village Roadshow will pay $57M to Warner Bros., money it owes after withholding its share of the Matrix Resurrections budget due to a COVID dispute. Read more about Village Roadshow’s Bankruptcy and Why It’s Important to the Film Industry.
Mini tidbits:
The Drama (2026) becomes A24’s fifth biggest hit with $100M worldwide.
Netflix may soon own the Radford Studios, which served as CBS’s studio for many years.
Trailers:
New Line Cinema’s Evil Dead Burn
Release: Jul 10
Apple TV’s Silo S3
Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Tim Robbins
Release: Jul 3
Oscilloscope’s The Python Hunt (doc)
Release: May 8
Netflix’s Worst Ex Ever S2
True-crime docuseries
Prod co: Blumhouse
Release Date: May 6, 2026
Hacked
Cast: Chandler Riggs, Owen Atlas
VOD Release Date: June 2
J-Pop Idol Anime Jinsei
Release Date: June 12
First look:
A Blue Butterfly
Dir: C. J. Obasi (Mami Wata)
U.S. Release: TBD
Release date:
Investigation Discovery’s The Many Lives of Benjamin Kyle
Release Dates: May 25, 2026
Shoot date:
Woody Allen’s Untitled Madrid Film
Cast: TBD
Shoot Dates: October 5 ~ December 31, 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
The Penguin director Craig Zobel’s newest muse may be Melissa McCarthy.
The two-time Oscar nominee is in talks to star in thriller feature Turpentine, set to follow a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own mom (McCarthy) and dad to pay off a bookie, which, to be expected, does not go according to plan.
A master of comedy, the Bridesmaids star very rarely ventures into dramatic territory, with one of her only turns widely regarded as one of her best performances, showcasing unexpected emotional depth and great nuance in the role of literary forger Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018, trailer).
Going back to the beginning of her career, McCarthy played Lauren Graham’s scene-stealing sidekick Sookie in the Amy Sherman-Palladino series Gilmore Girls, a part that was generally silly but also allowed for moments of genuine vulnerability and personal hardship as she navigates motherhood.
McCarthy has proven her talent stretches far beyond comedy, so a project from Zobel, produced by Rian Johnson’s T-Street, feels like it could really work.
Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals) joins independent sci-fi thriller Green Bank.
The film will follow an infant sleep-trainer, Sloan (Tatiana Maslany), who begins to realize that the parents of the child might be hiding a dark secret. The world is a town with a “quiet zone” that limits electronic transmissions because scientific research is being conducted in the area.
This is the first time Nanjiani is a part of a horror-thriller film. Yet it is hard to picture his deadpan humor and nerdy persona in the film; it would be interesting to see him as a scientist trying to figure out what is really happening in the small town of Green Bank.
Josh Ruben (Dir: Heart Eyes) is set to direct the film.
Tidbits:
New Hulu drama Southern Bastards casts Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Origin) in a guest-starring role. Ellis-Taylor will play Vernetta, a fiercely protective mother whose daughter draws her back to her hometown. The role feels well-suited to Ellis-Taylor, who portrayed a devoted grandmother in Nickel Boys (2024), and not long before, Oracene Price, the nurturing mother of tennis legends in King Richard (2021). The series is currently in pre-production.
A big detour from her lovable role on The Bear, Liza Colón-Zayas is joining the erotic thriller Fleur alongside Halle Berry. It follows Berry as a housewife who flees America and reinvents herself in Paris as an upscale escort and dominatrix. Colón-Zayas broke through as the sweet and adorably dedicated line chef Tina Marrero on Hulu’s cooking drama The Bear, a role that not only became a fan favorite but earned her an Emmy award. Filming is ongoing in Paris.
More Casting Tidbits:
Jesse Garcia (Narcos: Mexico)
Naomi Ackie (Sorry Baby)
Orville “Shaggy” Burrell
All those casting tidbits and more here.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Cannes 2026 poster above. With the full breakdown on the significance here.
The Tribeca Festival has unveiled its TV lineup:
HBO:
Two docuseries from The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) writers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow.
Not A Very Good Murderer
The Palladino Files
There are also shows from Prime, Hulu, and more. Check out the rest of our breakdown here.
Tidbits:
The Playmaker (Sew Torn) boards international sales for Lieblingsfilm’s Horse on a Stick, a family adventure about competitive hobby horsing. The film is set for a Cannes Market debut.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Neon taps first-time feature director Sam Evenson to adapt his short film Mora (2025) into a full-length feature. Evenson will write and direct.
The film will center around an artist who tries to make a name for himself in the AI space by locating the source of a mysterious woman who keeps popping up in AI-generated images of death and dismemberment.
Evenson has a long career as a VFX artist, with credits including Dune: Part Two (2024) and Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). And what he’s done with Mora is very scary and well-directed. It’s a great mix of techno-horror and body-horror (full short).
Roy Lee (Prod: Weapons) and Steven Schneider (Prod: The Long Walk) will produce alongside Neon.
We are excited to see what Evenson can do on a larger scale.
Tidbits:
Ketchup Entertainment (Prod Co: Looney Tunes’ The Day the Earth Blew Up) enters a distribution partnership with V10 Entertainment (a media company). V10 will sell the pay-1 window rights and downstream rights to Ketchup’s movies, including Coyote vs. Acme (2026). Ketchup bought the Looney Tunes feature from Warner Bros in a high-profile deal, and it will get a U.S. theatrical release on August 28. Ketchup Entertainment team-up with V10 will allow them to bring their slate to the global market.
Bring back the ‘90s Slasher films. The Horror Collective (horror film distribution label) acquired the worldwide rights to 213 Bones (2025, trailer). Set in 1993, the film follows a group of college students who are targeted by a serial killer, and it is up to them to reveal the identity of the slasher before they become the next victims.
The Anna Kendrick and J.K. Simmons-led action series Embassy has been sold to six territories by Prime Video. From AGC Television (MGM+’s Vanished), the streamer landed rights to the six-part series in the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, Australia, and New Zealand, scheduled to premiere next year. The geopolitical thriller sees Kendrick as a sharp diplomat who can either protect the U.S. Ambassador (Simmons) or complete a critical mission when mercenaries storm the embassy. Filming has just begun in London.
Mini Tidbits:
FilmLA will soon offer reduced-cost filming permits for local shoots as the city continues to try to lure back production. These rates will be available for “low impact” shoots, specifically pilots, which usually have smaller crews and budgets.
Andy Warhol’s lesser-known friend Richard Bernstein is the subject of a new doc, Gloss and Grit: The Man Who Made Art Pop.
More indie/international tidbits:
800 Pound Gorilla
Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Group
South Korea’s worldwide box office
All those tidbits and more here.
ON THIS DAY
2012. Veep premieres on HBO.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram
Want to advertise with us? Email: clarke.scott@theindustry.co