Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Amazon’s Heat, Netflix’s Clue, and a bad monkey.
Let’s go!
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One of the 1990s’ greatest films is getting a sequel.
Heat (1995), which starred Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer, will return with Heat 2.
The team is impressive:
Dir: Michael Mann (original film director)
“Circling” Val Kilmer’s character in Heat: Leonardo DiCaprio
Producer: Scott Stuber (former Netflix film boss)
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer (F1, Top Gun, Pirates of the Caribbean)
Studio: United Artists (owner: Amazon MGM)
The film is based on the book Heat 2, co-written by Michael Mann. Is this evidence of Hollywood changing the way scripts are written?
Book Synopsis:
One day after the end of Heat, Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) is holed up in Koreatown, wounded, and desperately trying to escape LA. Hunting him to the grave is LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino).
In 1988, seven years earlier, McCauley (Robert De Niro), Shiherlis, and their crew are taking scores across the US, living the high life. Chicago homicide detective Vincent Hanna is hunting an ultraviolent gang of home invaders.
Heat is known for its iconic action sequences. But for me, they were never that impressive. That’s because I didn’t see it in 1995; I saw it in the late 2000s. At that point, there had been a lot of derivatives of Mann’s action sequences.
For me, what stuck out in the film was the 6-minute dialogue scene between two of the greatest screen actors of all time, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
In that scene, De Niro, a high-class bank robber, and Pacino, a LA police veteran, have a chance meeting in a diner. It’s the ultimate cat-and-mouse scene. De Niro brilliantly oscillates between bank robber and monk. Displaying an innate ability to listen, empathize, and then light it all on fire.
It’s precisely this volatile combination that made that scene, and the movie, so iconic.
Today, that would be like watching Daniel Day-Lewis and Joaquin Phoenix share a dialogue-heavy scene.
Given the possible Leonardo DiCaprio casting, maybe he could play opposite Phoenix, Day-Lewis, or even Denzel.
Time will tell, but either way, we’re excited to see Mann return to his bloody yet philosophical heist opera.
For More:
Heat trailer
De Niro vs. Pacino Heat scene.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Paramount’s domestic distribution president Chris Aronson exits.
Netflix greenlights a competition series based on board game Clue.
Disney nabs Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures saga in a seven-figure deal.
NBC pilots a Wordle game show.
Amazon orders a Gilgo Beach killings docuseries.
Matt Dillon will play Frank Stallone Sr. in Amazon MGM’s I Play Rocky.
FX pilot Disinherited casts Alan Ruck and Karl Glusman.
Dean Norris joins border thriller Coyote.
Prime’s animated comedy Kevin casts Jason Schwartzman & Aubrey Plaza.
Xavier Dolan to direct French series Rage, pitching at MIA Market.
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight’s The Party’s Over sells to nine territories.
Rachel Lambert follows Sometimes I Think About Dying with Chris Pine–Jenny Slate love story Carousel.
1-2 Special picks up North American rights for Venice’s Silent Friend.
Protagonist Pictures promotes Alice Vail to Head of Acquisitions & Development.
Banijay acquires worldwide rights to Ninja Warrior format.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Another day and more Paramount shakeups.
Paramount’s president of domestic distribution, Chris Aronson, announces his exit, as the latest executive to depart the company post Skydance merger.
Aronson, most notably, founded the theatrical division at Rentrak (now Comscore), developing an efficient system for gathering and sharing box office information, including real-time grosses.
Throughout his time at Paramount, Aronson has overseen some major blockbuster hits like Top Gun: Maverick (2022), the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Smile (2022), and many more.
There is no word on where the veteran distribution exec will go next.
Netflix in the living room, with the candlestick.
Netflix has officially greenlit a competition series based on the iconic board game Clue, transforming the beloved whodunit into a live-action game of strategy. It’s a pretty straightforward analogue. Contestants will tackle physical and mental challenges to collect clues before identifying the killer, location, and weapon.
With Hasbro at the helm of this and Sony’s upcoming reboot currently in development, it’s hard not to see this as some attempted brand synergy. It also marks Netflix’s second major board-game adaptation following its upcoming Monopoly series. The performative aspect of Clue already lends itself to good TV, weave in a mystery, and I think this could end up being a fun show.
Tidbits:
Disney has secured Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures saga in a seven-figure deal, with the author adapting the first two novels herself. The fantasy phenomenon, likened to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, has sold over 4 million copies and earned Rundell major literary honors. It was a battle of the titans with both Warner and Disney duking it out for rights, with Disney execs flying out to London to personally pitch Rundell. The studio is planning a major live-action franchise, and this is really looking like another major tentpole IP for years to come.
Jack Black has boarded 40 Watts From Nowhere as EP. 40 Watts is a doc chronicling KBLT, a 1990s Los Angeles pirate radio station that became a hub for punk and alternative musicians. Directed by Sue Carpenter, one of the radio station’s original founders. The film draws from 12 hours of rediscovered 1998 footage, showing the station’s underground operations and cultural impact before the FCC shut it down. It is currently making its way through the festival circuit. Check out the trailer here.
NBC is piloting a Wordle game show hosted by Savannah Guthrie, with Jimmy Fallon producing via his Electric Hot Dog banner. Filming in the UK, the adaptation stems from the Times’ 2022 acquisition of Josh Wardle’s viral puzzle, now played 5.3bn times annually.
First Discovery, then Peacock, Netflix, and now Amazon is taking a turn at Long Island’s infamous Gilgo Beach killings in a new untitled docuseries. Promising an “inside story” on the murders, Empress Films’ Emma Cooper (prod: Penguin Bloom) is directing.
Time flies even in the wizarding world. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Warner Bros. is giving Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) a global theatrical re-release. The film that started it all, when and where it’ll play, is currently under wraps.
Trailers:
Netflix’s Ballad of a Small Player
Dir: Edward Berger
Star: Colin Farrell
Saw it at TIFF, and can safely say that Farrell’s character is a madman at the height of addiction
Release: Oct 29th
Netflix’s The Witcher (S4)
Star: Liam Hemsworth
Release: Oct 30th
Sony’s East of Wall
Now on Digital
First look:
Prime Fremantle’s Kill Jackie
Release: 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Talk about a knockout casting.
Matt Dillon (Crash, The Outsiders) has been cast as Frank Stallone Sr., the father of Sylvester, in Peter Farrelly and Amazon MGM’s upcoming film I Play Rocky.
The immigrant hairdresser was described by his son as “Rambo in reality”, a hardworking father but an incredibly complicated man who was often abusive to his family.
Dillon’s Oscar-nominated performance in the Best Picture winner Crash (2004, trailer) is reminiscent of the intense patriarch, as he portrayed the compassionate but undeniably cruel Officer Ryan, a deeply flawed character whose few moments of tenderness were consistently overshadowed by volatility.
I Play Rocky tells the remarkable true story of Stallone’s uphill battle in getting Rocky Balboa on the big screen. Dillon joins a growing cast led by Anthony Ippolito (The Offer) as the young Stallone. The Amazon film is still in early production stages, with no word yet on when filming will commence.
FX’s new pilot, Disinherited, from Wri/Dir/EP: Peter Gould (co-creator Better Call Saul), finds its cast:
Alan Ruck (the actual eldest boy in Succession)
Eddie Marsan (the sadistic boss in Fair Play)
Synopsis: An unexpected inheritance thrusts a pair of scrappy sisters into a world of generational wealth and long-buried crimes.
Ruck will play an attorney, and Glusman will play a paralegal.
If Glusman’s name doesn’t ring a bell, his face will. He excelled in Alex Garland’s Devs (2020) and picked up a small role in Civil War (2024). But I really loved him in a movie that doesn’t yet have a distributor: Little Death (premiere: Sundance); he plays an unhinged drug dealer with a carefully crafted OCD.
Tidbits:
Dean Norris is back hunting for drugs. The Breaking Bad actor will co-star alongside Mel Gibson and Esai Morales (MI:8) in Coyote. The border thriller follows Hernán Barroca (Morales), a weary ex-smuggler forced back into danger. Norris will play a “cunning and relentless” Chief sniffing out drugs. Sounds strikingly close to his Breaking Bad role as Hank, the lovable DEA agent, determined, but with massive hubris. This scene is everything.
Prime Video’s upcoming adult animated comedy, Kevin, is bringing in all the big dogs, cats, and animals! Featuring the voices of Jason Schwartzman (Isle of Dogs), Aubrey Plaza, Whoopi Goldberg (The Lion King), John Waters, and Amy Sedaris (BoJack Horseman). Created by Plaza and Joe Wengert, the series centers on Kevin (Schwartzman), a neurotic tuxedo cat navigating life after his human owners split, forcing him into the eccentric world of a Queens pet rescue. Produced by Titmouse (Sisters Grimm) and Plaza’s production wing, Evil Hag.
Danielle Vasinova (The Madison) plays the cult leader’s mother in the new true-crime thriller The Leader. The film is inspired by Heaven’s Gate (not the infamous movie), the infamous religious group that committed the largest mass suicide to ever take place in the US. Michael Gallagher directs. She joins a strong cast of Tim Blake Nelson, Vera Farmiga, and Jim Parsons.
Adam Shankman (Hairspray) is set to direct a Drag Race movie with an ensemble of past and present stars joining RuPaul, including:
Ginger Minj
Jujubee
Latrice Royale
Monét X Change
Brooke Lynn Hytes
And more…
Mini Tidbits:
Double Jeopardy actress, Ashley Judd, is set to star in 21 Down, a sports drama following the remarkable Caden Cox, who made history as the first person with Down syndrome to score in a college football game. Judd plays his mother, Mari, in the upcoming film.
The second season of Apple TV+’s Bad Monkey adds Sam Jaeger (NBC’s Parenthood) in a recurring role. In the Bill Lawrence series, Jaeger will be joining not just Vince Vaughn reprising his lead role, but his The Handmaid’s Tale costar Yvonne Strahovski. Production is underway.
FESTIVALS
Famed French director Xavier Dolan (Mommy) is doubling down on TV directing. He is set to direct Rage, a French series about the skinhead movement in Paris. The series is being pitched at MIA Market. Previously, Dolan directed the Canal+ mini-series The Night Logan Woke Up (2022).
This is a wild shift away from film. At 19, Dolan directed his first feature, which was Canada’s official selection for the Academy Awards. He went on to direct the fiery and poignant Mommy (2014), which took the Jury Prize at Cannes, and It’s Only the End of the World (2016), which took the Grand Prix.
He hasn’t directed a feature since Matthias & Maxime (2019).
Also at the MIA Market…
Andrew Leung’s animated sci-fi dramedy Ancient China of Mars has become a standout. The story follows the Lee family, Earthling Chinese immigrants stranded on a decrepit space station orbiting Mars after fleeing a climate-ravaged Earth. They open a restaurant while dreaming of a better life amid a “terraformed fascist paradise.”
Recently, we have seen an uptick in Adult Animated (non-anime) serious dramas, Common Side Effects and Fired on Mars both come to mind. My hunch is that it’s young adults coming into real life, but with a twinge of nostalgia drawing them back to a Saturday morning cartoon feel.
No deals just yet, but this one seems perfect for a streamer.
Mini Tidbits:
PBS Distribution and Blink Films have closed international sales for two space-based documentaries, Ultimate Crash Test and Terror on the Space Station, boosting hype ahead of Mipcom.
The Cannes Director’s Fortnight film, The Party’s Over, has sold to nine territories, including Canada, after grossing over $1M at the French box office. The trailer looks like Swimming Pool, redefined for a satirical class conflict.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Rachel Lambert thinks about dying.
Lambert, who directed the Daisy Ridley film Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023), is making a new film, Carousel. It stars Chris Pine and Jenny Slate.
No synopsis, but it’s a love story.
If you’ve seen Sometimes I Think About Dying, you’ll know the mood for Lambert’s films exudes…
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