Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Amazon’s He-Man, Oscars’ numbers, and a Poser.
Let’s go!
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You got Marvel in my He-Man.
Amazon’s new Masters of the Universe looks like something we have all seen about 30 times at this point.
CGI battle, quippy quips, and a conspicuously quiet main villain (we know it’s you under the mask, Leto). With the exciting casting announcements (Alison Brie, Idris Elba), I guess I just expected more “voice”.
Even from the trailer, this feels very by the numbers.
Adam Glenn, the weirdly ripped nerdy guy, is actually from another world, exiled to live in our world until he finds a sword that transforms him, traveling back to save his homeworld. It’s very Shang-Chi, very Black Panther. It’s very Marvel.
The trailer also glosses over the Tron: Ares factor, trying its very best not to draw attention to Leto’s performance as Skeletor, the normally wisecracking camp villain, who does not say a single word.
Nicolas Galitzine, for his part, seems to have a handle on the duality of Adam/He-Man & meek/ripped.
Gen-Xer’s is this hitting you in the nostalgia part of your brain? If so, I am happy for you, but this first look doesn’t totally have the power if you catch my drift. It’s out June 5th.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
WBD claims 93% of shareholders have turned down Paramount’s offer.
Amazon MGM lands another book adaptation: Dragon Cursed.
Disney discloses Bob Iger’s 2025 comp package: $45.8M.
AMC Networks CFO Patrick O’Connell exits.
Hearst Networks programming exec Dan Korn departs after a decade.
ABC adapts Brazilian medical hit Sob Pressão (Under Pressure) to English.
Sadie Stanley joins Netflix’s Poser as a series regular.
Rosanna Arquette boards Prime Video’s Ballard S2.
Thora Birch joins indie drama Civilian.
Sundance launches Sundance Now, an “algorithm-free” festival streaming platform.
Quiver acquires North American rights to John C. Reilly’s A Prayer for the Dying.
Signature takes U.K./Ireland rights to Angelina Jolie’s Couture.
Netflix Mexico spotlights Mexico ’86 (Diego Luna, Karla Souza).
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Oscar Nominations by the Numbers:
0 nominations: Amazon, Paramount, Searchlight, 20th Century, Wicked: For Good, No Other Choice, Paul Mescal, Chase Infiniti, Ariana Grande, Dwayne Johnson, George Clooney, Jeremy Allen White, Jennifer Lawrence
0 nominations: Guillermo del Toro for Best Director, It Was Just an Accident for Best Picture
1 nom: Universal (VFX for Jurassic World: Rebirth)
1 nom: Willa - the scrappy indie distributor that got the coveted 5th spot in Best International Film for The Voice of Hind Rajab
1 nom: Wagner Moura - first Brazilian actor to get Oscar-nominated
2 noms: Geeta Gandbhir (Dir: The Perfect Neighbor, short doc: The Devil Is Busy)
5 noms - All 5 docs premiered at Sundance last year
5 noms: Ethan Hawke’s all-time total
8 noms: Leo’s all-time total
9 noms each: Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme, Frankenstein
13 noms: One Battle After Another
13 noms: Focus Features
14 noms: Spielberg’s total producer noms
16 noms: Sinners (most ever for a film)
18 noms each: Netflix and Neon
19 noms: From the 6 films that premiered at Cannes
25 years: Time between Kate Hudson’s Oscar noms
30 years old: Timothée Chalamet, the youngest actor to get 3x noms since Marlon Brando
30 noms: Warner Bros.
37 years old: Emma Stone, the youngest woman to get 7 noms
40 years: Time between Amy Madigan’s Oscar nominations
And, finally, casting directors get nominated. Congrats to Francine Maisler (Sinners), one of the best of all time.
Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the Oscars will air on ABC on March 15th.
Warner Bros. Discovery has formally pushed back against Paramount’s takeover attempt, with the company claiming that 93% of its shareholders have rejected Paramount’s offer.
Paramount, Skydance, and David Ellison are not backing down, extending their tender offer deadline till February 20th.
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos will appear before the Senate to defend the company's massive deal to buy Warner Bros. Studios and its streaming business, while addressing questions about its antitrust implications. WBD’s chief strategy officer, Bruce Campbell, will also be at the Senate to testify.
Tidbits:
Amazon MGM Studios scores another coveted book deal with Dragon Cursed, the bestselling fantasy novel from Elise Kova. Set in a fictional dragon-infested world, every teenager must undergo a series of brutal trials to determine the next generation of dragon hunters. The project is being developed by Premeditated Productions (Amazon’s Fourth Wing adaptation) under their first-look film deal with the studio.
AMC Networks Chief Financial Officer Patrick O’Connell is officially leaving the company to pursue other opportunities outside of the media industry. With the rest of traditional pay TV platforms, AMC Networks has seen a decline in total revenue in recent years. A replacement is currently being searched for, while O’Connell will remain with the company until March.
Netflix got its hands on another true crime series. The newest documentary series from Netflix UK will tell the story of Tony Parsons, a Scottish cancer survivor who was hit by a drunk driver while biking one day. While taking place back in 2017, there are still mysteries surrounding what happened to his body. It will drop on the streamer later this year.
Mini Tidbits:
According to SEC statements filed yesterday, Disney CEO Bob Iger’s compensation increased 11.5%, making it a grand total of $45.8M in 2025. Iger’s contract is expiring by the end of this year, with Mickey and the gang ferociously looking for his successor.
A staple at Hearst Networks, Dan Korn is leaving his commissioning role after a decade. As the VP of Programming, he helped shape the network’s factual TV strategy, commissioning a number of nonfiction shows like Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors and Royal Kill List.
ABC’s newest medical drama is an English-language adaptation of Brazil’s hugely popular series Sob Pressāo (Under Pressure). The show is in the hands of someone who has extensive experience in setting up hospitals. David Shore was the showrunner for The Good Doctor, House, and now Under Pressure.
Trailers:
Prime Video’s Invincible Season 4
Cast: Steven Yeun (Beef), Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)
Release: March 18, 2026
Hold Onto Me
Cast: Christos Passalis (Dogtooth)
Release: Sundance 2026
Disney+’s Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord
Cast: Sam Witwer (Star Wars Rebels)
Release: April 6, 2026
Paramount+’s Can You Keep a Secret?
Release: February 12, 2026
Release Dates:
Netflix’s Lucy Letby: The Nurse Who Killed
Release: February 4, 2026
Sunrise’s Saipan
Release: March 13, 2026 (US)
Festival First Looks:
Soft Boil
Premiere: Sundance 2026
Extra Geography
Premiere: Sundance 2026
Complaint No. 713317
Premiere: IFFR 2026
XYZ Films’ Mum, I’m an Alien (and I’m Pregnant)
Premiere: Sundance 2026
Renewals:
Hulu’s Shoresy (S6)
CBS’s
Survivor
The Amazing Race
Tracker (S4)
NCIS
Elsbeth
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (S2)
Sequel Announcement:
Millennium Media’s Primitive War 2
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Sadie Stanley (Karate Kid: Legends) has joined Netflix’s upcoming drama series Poser as a series regular.
From Cruel Summer creator Lauren Iungerich, the eight-episode thriller examines toxic female friendships and revenge.
Stanley plays Emmy, an outsider drawn back into a dangerous psychological dynamic with her estranged former best friend. Currently in production.
Mini Tidbits:
Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) joins the season two cast of Amazon Prime Video’s Ballard. She will play the estranged mother of Renée Ballard’s Maggie, a woman whose disappearance from her life shaped who she is. Shooting is set to begin next month.
The Chronology of Water’s Thora Birch (American Beauty) is cast in indie drama Civilian as a former soldier’s wife confronting buried trauma with her husband now back home. The role echoes a similar emotional intimacy she also portrayed in the award-winning Cannes title from Kristen Stewart, The Chronology of Water (2025). Civilian begins shooting later this year.
Prime Video has set a stacked slate of guest stars for Barbershop, its comedy series based on the MGM film franchise. Saturday Night Live alums Ego Nwodim and Devon Walker join Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Zack Fox (Abbott Elementary). The series follows Trav Porter, a young barber trying to live up to his grandfather’s legacy at Chicago’s iconic Calvin’s barbershop. Spawning four movies and one spinoff, the legacy of Barbershop is still going strong.
FESTIVALS
Just as Sundance kicks off, the festival announces that it is entering the streaming space.
Sundance Now will be an algorithm-free platform focused entirely on independent films and festival titles.
The festival is already experiencing major growth, with this year being its last in Park City, but now, for a fee of $7.99 a month, anyone can get in on the festival fun! The move isn’t entirely surprising and similar to Letterboxd’s new Video Store rental program that will likely help the growth of smaller films.
AI Zealots vs. AI Luddites:
Yesterday, Adobe announced a major partnership with CAA, WME, and UTA to mainstream its generative AI product, Firefly Foundry, into the creative pipeline.
Yesterday, 700 Hollywood A-listers, including Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Vince Gilligan, said that “[AI] stealing our work is not innovation. It's not progress. It's theft - plain and simple.” They advocate for ethical licensing.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Quiver Entertainment picks up North American rights for John C. Reilly’s survival thriller feature, A Prayer for the Dying, written and directed by Dara Van Dusen.
Synopsis:
In 1870, Friendship, Wisconsin, a small town of Scandinavian settlers, still suffered the repercussions of the recent Civil War. When faced with a new and even deadlier threat, one man is forced to make a harrowing choice: save his young family or defend the community that gave him a second chance at life and meaning.
Reilly plays a local doctor in the upcoming Civil War story. The film premiered at Berlin. No word on release date.
Mini Tidbits:
Vietnamese-Czech co-production, Summer School, 2001, has U.S. rights picked up by Reel Citrus. The drama follows a teenager who is reunited with his miserable family over the course of one volatile summer back together. After a successful festival run, the film is now expected to hit theaters in the U.S. this summer.
Mexican production company Woo Films (Holy Family) is moving forward with a film adaptation of The Use of Photography by Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux. Director Natalia Beristáin (Noise) is attached to direct the powerful love story of a couple’s journey through cancer treatment.
Arthur Sarkissian (prod: Rush Hour) has teamed with entrepreneur Jas Mathur to launch Limitless Films, setting Deon Taylor (The Intruder) to direct debut feature Tink. The true crime drama follows Olympian and NFL player Gerald Tinker, pulled into Miami’s cocaine pipeline in the 1970s and 1980s. Starts shooting late 2026 in Miami.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
After several months in limbo, Signature Entertainment (Luc Besson’s Dracula) has picked up Pathé’s Angelina Jolie’s Couture (trailer) for U.K. and Ireland rights. From Hanway Films (La Cocina), set during the glitz and glamour of Paris Fashion Week, the drama follows three women from different worlds whose lives intersect. The film’s world premiere was originally at TIFF, but this news comes just before its premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival.
It’s a big soccer year after all. Netflix Mexico finalized its upcoming slate with a number of exciting titles. Mexico '86 follows the country’s long-shot bid to host the 1986 Cup, starring Diego Luna (Andor) and How to Get Away With Murder’s Karla Souza. At the streamer’s most recent press event in Mexico City, they announced the movie will drop later this year.
Netflix’s 2026 Turkish slate is filled with several new originals. To Love, To Lose is a gritty romance between a loan-shark heir and a restaurant owner. In Turkey one of their most anticipated and high-profile series is an adaptation of Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence.
Spain’s The Mediapro Studio, Infinity Hill (Argentina, 1985), and IP4 are teaming up to co-produce The Blue Box (La Caja Azul), a Spanish-language psychological thriller. The film stars Emmy winner Gustavo Bassani (Yosi, the Regretful Spy) in a dating-app connection gone wrong story.
Disney+ UK is developing a caper drama series, After the Move to Nevada, from Danny Brocklehurst (Fool Me Once). The show centers on a gangster movie obsessive who travels to a Nevada crime convention and is mistaken for a real mafia boss, triggering a criminal spiral. Produced by Wild Mercury, the project has been in development for some time, and casting talks are underway. Brocklehurst comes off Netflix hit Fool Me Once, the platform’s most-watched series of 2024.
ON THIS DAY
2005. Johnny Carson dies at 79.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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