Adam Driver’s Tangled Love
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Adam Driver, a new Hagrid, and Unicorns.
Let’s go!
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Adam Driver thrives in tangled relationships.
He’s been an enfant terrible in many on-screen romances, opposite:
Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)
Marion Cotillard (Annette)
Lena Dunham (Girls)
In keeping with these roles, he will lead Apple TV+’s new show, The Dealer, playing a “gifted and unnerving” artist who is ensnared in a romance with an aspiring high-end art gallerist played by Jessica Chastain.
Driver excels at being marvelously combative in on-screen relationships, and we expect him and Chastain, who was sensational in Scenes From a Marriage, to have voracious chemistry.
Driver can appear righteous and a shitbag in the same breath, like when he’s sounding off at Scarelett Johanson in the heartbreakingly intense Marriage Story.
But Driver can also be like a wounded puppy (as we saw this many times in Girls), and this raw sweetness is dreadfully endearing.
We look forward to the alchemy between him and Chastain in The Dealer.
As per usual for Apple TV+’s shows, it has a fantastic team:
Dir: Sam Gold (Theater Director: Tony-Award Winning Fun Home, Dir: 1 episode of Girls)
Prod Company: Media Res (The Morning Show, Pachinko, Scenes from a Marriage)
No word yet on production dates.
For More:
That scene in Marriage Story.
A scene in Girls.
Annette trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Benedict Cumberbatch and Oliva Coleman are a warring married couple in Searchlight’s The Roses.
Amazon MGM Studios is adapting Murdle, a murder mystery puzzle book, into a TV series.
Rachel Morrison (Dir: The Fire Inside) will direct Love of Your Life for Amazon MGM.
The DGA named Jon Avnet and Karen Gaviola to lead 2026 contract talks.
Nick Frost is in talks to play Hagrid in HBO’s upcoming Potter series.
Rowan Blanchard (Snowpiercer, Girl Meets World) is the newest addition to The Handmaid’s Tale sequel series.
Al Pacino plays an exorcist in XYZ Film’s The Ritual.
Laia Costa (Victoria) will star in The Mummy.
Dr Who is back on April 12th with a time-jumping new trailer.
Slumdog Millionaire producers are taking on the groundbreaking memoir The Day My Brain Exploded.
Cohen Media Group (Operation Mincemeat) acquires Unicorns.
Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired The Moogai.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Waring couples seem to be a theme in today’s edition. Let me introduce you to Benedict Cumberbatch and Oliva Coleman, who will fight tooth and nail to tear each other and everything they own apart in Searchlight’s The Roses.
If that premise sounds familiar, it’s inspired by the Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas film The War of the Roses (goofy trailer).
Release date for The Roses is set for Aug 29th (Labor Day weekend). Jay Roach (Trumbo, Bombshell) directs, and Tony McNamara (Poor Things) writes.
Amazon MGM Studios is developing Murdle, once again pushing the limits of what Hollywood will or won't try to turn into a series. Based on G.T. Karber’s bestselling puzzle book collection, Murdle will adapt what is essentially a series of murder mystery puzzles. The story written by Jon Croker (Paddington) will follow two rival members of a London detective club forced to team up. But the true meat of this IP is the ability to tie together a series of vignettes and brain teases. Teasing an almost more interactive kind of Inside Out, which will implore the audience to solve the mystery as it goes along. The project joins a growing trend of comedic murder mysteries, alongside titles like Only Murders in the Building and Poker Face. Seems like fun should be arriving sometime later this year.
Amazon MGM Studios has brought on director-cinematographer Rachel Morrison to direct Love of Your Life, a new feature being produced by Ryan Gosling. The plot details are being kept under wraps but there was an intense bidding war for the script. Love of Your Life would be a reunion of sorts for Amazon and Morrison, the latter whose boxing biopic with the studio, The Fire Inside, premiered this past Christmas.
Tidbits:
The DGA named Jon Avnet and Karen Gaviola to lead 2026 contract talks. Both are veteran negotiators with extensive industry and guild experience. Full committee appointments will be announced soon.
Greg Hessinger, who previously served as executive director of SAG in 2005, has become the president of AMPTP. He has experience in studio and union negotiations, starting his career at CBS.
There’s something sick and satisfying about Final Destination. Here’s the full trailer for Warner Bros.’ latest incarnation: Final Destination: Bloodlines, out May 16th.
It’s official Mini Tidbits:
Amazon has officially closed its deal with Barabara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for the Bond rights. Amy Pascal (Pascal Pictures) and David Heyman (Heyday Films) are now the official producers of the upcoming film.
Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions, and LD Entertainment have officially acquired Sundance’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez. It will be released theatrically in the fall.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Everyone’s favorite lovable giant and Hogwarts’ groundskeeper, Hagrid, has found new life with Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) who is set to make a deal to take on the cherished role. The British actor-comedian is the latest addition to HBO’s high-profile series adaptation of the universally loved Harry Potter:
John Lithgow as Dumbledore
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) as Professor McGonagall
Paapa Essiedu (The Outrun) as Professor Snape
In Frost’s frequent Simon Pegg collaborations (Hot Fuzz, The World’s End), he possesses both the innate silliness and comforting warmness true to Hagrid. (In this short clip, you can see not only fantastic ‘drunk acting’ but also the natural goofiness Frost carries in his roles.)
No official word on when filming will begin on the HBO series. But it is set to air late 2026 or early 2027.
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Internet personality Benito Skinner, otherwise known as Benny Drama, is making his TV debut in the semi-autobiographical new comedy series Overcompensating for A24 and Amazon.
The new teaser trailer sees overly horny, uninhibited students living their college lives to the fullest in the messiest way with all episodes created and written by Skinner.
Guest star Charli xcx will help draw younger audiences. Connie Britton (Nashville) and Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) also star.
The inevitable chaos that comes with Overcompensating can be watched on May 15th on Prime Video.
Tidbits:
Malcom in The Middle Casting revealed:
Reprising their roles: Frankie Muniz + Bryan Cranston and a few more.
Newcomers:
Dewey (youngest brother) - Caleb Ellsworth-Clark (recast)
Leah (Malcolm’s Daughter) - Keeley Karsten
Vaughan Murrae will play the role of Kelly, the youngest child. Murrrae is non-binary, and the character of Kelly will also be a nod to the season finale, where the baby's gender was never confirmed.
This four episode reunion show is looking more and more wholesome I wouldn't be surprised if it brings us a whole other season in the future.
Al Pacino has played the devil (The Devil's Advocate), and now he plays an exorcist in XYZ Films’ The Ritual. In theaters this summer (teaser trailer).
From Disney to Gilead, Rowan Blanchard (Snowpiercer, Girl Meets World) is the newest addition to The Handmaid’s Tale sequel series, The Testaments. Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, in the Hulu series, Blanchard is set to star as the pampered teen Shaunammite, who comes from a powerful and high-status family.
Laia Costa is the next Rachel Weiss. Costa will star in The Mummy, the reboot from Lee Cronin (Evil Dead Rise) from Universal and Blumhouse. Costa will star with Jack Reynor (Hereditary) as a married couple who encounter a mummy. Costa was excellently intense in the one-shot tour-de-force in Victoria, playing the titular role. Producing has started in Ireland, with a release date of April 17, 2026.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Dr Who is back this time on a better foot: Dr. Who Season 2 teases time jumps to the alternate future, and all the way to the far off time of 2007. The newest doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, seems to have loosened up in his second season and embodies the virtual god of time and space with a special panache. The entire series itself also seems to have loosened up now that it has established itself and its new Disney+ home; it's time to have a bit more fun. This season, the doctor and his new companion (Varada Sethu) will travel to all sorts of fun and wacky worlds, with the fully animated and singing competitions standing out. Watch out for the huge honking spider in the trailer.
Dr Who is back April 12th!
Slumdog Millionaire producers Tabrez Noorani and Amar Butala are taking on a film adaptation of the groundbreaking memoir The Day My Brain Exploded. It follows the real life story of Ashok Rajamani, who at 25 suffered a catastrophic brain hemorrhage that would change his life forever. So much more than just a medical miracle story, the memoir tackles topics like disability and racism sure to be powerful on the big screen.
Made by Killing Eve producer Sid Gentle Films, the BBC and ZDF are co-producing Honey, a playful spy drama series set in 80s Berlin. The series was created by Emma Moran (wri: Extraordinary) and set against the stark brutalism of East Germany with a story that is both smart and scandalous. There is no word yet on its release.
Menopause is the new punk rock?
The BAFTA-winning Sally Wainwright (showrunner on Happy Valley) unveiled her new original series Riot Women, a story following 50-something women who form a punk rock band. Partially based on her real life, Wainwright shared,
“It’s very personal, it’s about my life, about the menopause… but I wanted to talk about it in a different way that was propulsive and exciting.”
The six-part British dramedy series was produced by Drama Republic for BBC and BritBox.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / FESTIVALS
British Drag indie love stories are on the rise. Film4 and Channel 4’s Sundance film Layla (trailer) was recently released. Now, Cohen Media Group (Operation Mincemeat) takes North American rights for Unicorns (not the A24 film), which premiered at TIFF.
Here’s the synopsis:
The story of a queer South Asian nightclub performer living a double life, and a young, single father who works as a mechanic. When they meet, a search for identity is sparked.
The trailer is heartfelt and evocative. Releases theatrically later this year.
French/Japanese TV series Tokyo Crush wins Series Mania’s Best Project Award.
Here’s the synopsis of the funny pop series:
A French chef who arrives in Tokyo to become chef in an “izakaya”, and to use gastronomy as a cultural bridge between France and Japan but is a fish out of water.
The series is produced by Jean-Félix Dealberto, who served as an EP on Memoir of a Snail and a sales agent at Charades. His team won $54,000.
Tidbits:
Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired The Moogai, an Australian horror film by Jon Bell, after its Sundance 2024 premiere. The film explores a mother haunted by a child-stealing spirit. An interesting genre twist that draws from Aboriginal folk-lore. A May release is planned.
Imagine Documentaries is producing Baby Driver: The First Step to F1, a docuseries following elite kids aged 8–12 at Italy’s BabyRace Academy as they chase Formula 1 dreams through intense training.
ON THIS DAY
1958. 30th Academy Awards, The Bridge on the River Kwai wins Best Picture.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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