Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Amazon’s Pop, HBO’s Patriot, and a Wild Diamond.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Michael Showalter (Dir: The Idea of You) reteams with Amazon MGM for Cyrano Pop.
Larry David has a new sketch comedy series for HBO.
Amazon inks first-look deal with Invitation Media, which has an upcoming film with Daniel Radcliffe.
Guy Ritchie exits Road House 2.
Apple’s Murderbot renewed for Season 2.
Hailee Steinfeld joins Miles Teller in Winter Games for Paramount.
Mark Duplass is cast in A24’s The Backrooms.
Bill Camp cast in Amazon MGM’s Karoshi thriller.
Taylor Kitsch is leading the survival thriller Eleven Days.
The late, great Michael Madsen stars in Mr. Wonderful.
Shudder acquires Tina Romero’s Queens of the Dead.
French drama Wild Diamond (premiere: Cannes) drops trailer.
Jessica Yu (dir: Quiz Lady) is directing Prime Video’s Italian Postcards.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Michael Showalter’s Pop. Following Showalter’s Amazon MGM smash hit The Idea of You (50M views in two weeks), the director is back with Cyrano Pop for the studio. The film, inspired by the play Cyrano de Bergerac, follows “a behind-the-scenes songwriter in the world of pop stars.”
Showalter is a master at creating asymmetrical romances that sing. In The Big Sick, it was the conflict of a couple from two different cultures; in The Idea of You, it was the clash between fame and normality. Cyrano is the perfect fit: a character who feels he’s not physically worthy of love and must woo through someone else’s voice.
Davis Entertainment (Prey, Flight Risk) serves as the prod co, along with Showalter’s Semi-Formal Productions.
Even though Curb has ended, the king of grievances, Larry David, returns to HBO with a new sketch series produced by the Obamas.
The six-episode series will highlight overlooked figures in American history, co-written with Curb Your Enthusiasm collaborator Jeff Schaffer. The show is being produced by The Obamas’ Higher Ground. The untitled series will feature Curb actors and celebrity guest stars in absurd historical roles.
Curb is one of the funniest shows ever written. This scene, where Larry tries to pass off his awful sandwich (clip), always gets me. Slated for a likely 2026 release to mark America’s 250th anniversary.
Tidbits:
From Ferraris to Spaceships. Italian producer Andrea Iervolino (Ferrari, upcoming: Bugatti) has brought on Bert Ulrich, former NASA Entertainment Liaison, Film and Documentary Collaborations, to EVP his company Space 11. If you wanted to use NASA facilities/gain access to their scientists, you had to go through Bert. Iervolino’s company focuses on productions shot in outer space. We can’t wait to see what kind of out-of-this-world stuff they come up with. Maybe a sequel to this.
Amazon MGM Studios initiates a first-look TV deal with Invitation Media. The first major project, Trust the Man, is a Vietnam War thriller with Daniel Radcliffe and Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased). Full cover story breakdown here: https://theindustry.co/p/daniel-radcliffes-renaissance.
New company hires/one firing at:
Webtoon Entertainment
Comcast’s Versant
Nielson
Amazon’s Road House 2
Hires/Fires breakdown: https://theindustry.co/p/webtoon-versant-roadhouse-2
Trailers:
Apple’s Chief of War
Star: Jason Momoa
Release date: Aug 1
Hulu’s King of the Hill (Season 14)
Release date: Aug 4
Starz’s Blood of My Blood (Outlander Prequel)
Release date: Aug 8
Release dates:
Peacock’s The Paper (The Office spin-off)
Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore (White Lotus)
Buzz: Oscar Nuñez returns
Release date: September 4
Searchlight’s Rental Family
Cast: Brendan Fraser
Dir: Hikari (Beef 3 eps)
Buzz: Possible Oscar contender
Release date: November 21
Renewals:
Apple TV+’s Murderbot (renewed for Season 2)
Netflix’s Virgin River (renewed for Season 8)
Mini Tidbit:
Wisconsin passes a $5M tax credit (30% tax incentive). $1M cap/project.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Mark Duplass and friends head into The Backrooms.
Duplass has joined the cast of The Backrooms, the upcoming sci-fi horror film from A24, Atomic Monster, and 21 Laps. Based on the very creepy internet short series from 20-year-old Kane Parsons, who will also be making his directorial debut.
Duplass brings two major elements: indie cred, having produced, directed, and acted in some of the cult hits of the early 2000s. Plus, Duplass returns to his element: found footage horror, something he captured perfectly in his film series Creep, Creep 2, and The Creep Tapes.
He has a perfect balance of charming vulnerability that leads to pure menace. Shot for cheap on a VHS camera, this series, following a sociopathic serial killer, is some of Duplass's best work, constantly weaving lies with truth, and humor with pure terror.
The Backrooms is now shooting in Canada.
After exorcising her inner vampire in the box office hit Sinners, Hailee Steinfeld is now set to star opposite Miles Teller (Whiplash) in Paramount’s Olympic film Winter Games.
Synopsis:
At the Winter Olympics, an overlooked female skier (Steinfeld) and a self-sabotaging hockey player (Teller) find romance in the Olympic Village, their growing connection threatening both their crucial athletic moments.
Steinfeld has grown up from her breakout in True Grit (2010). We loved her brutal cut down of Michael B. Jordan’s Stack at the top of Sinners, where she wields her words like a dragon’s tongue. We hope for plenty of that across from Teller in Winter Games.
A trio of casting updates for three projects:
Netflix’s Sam Bankman-Fried limited series
M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller
Erica Dunton’s (Ted Lasso) upcoming film
https://theindustry.co/p/netflix-shyamalan-dunton
Tidbit:
The late Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen’s newest trailer for Mr. Wonderful marks the actor’s final performance. The multi-generational drama features Madsen as a college professor struggling to revive his faltering career. The trailer showcases a poignant performance from Madsen, going to pieces after losing his job. There’s something sweet about how he takes out his anger in this film, a far cry from… well, you know the scene. From writer-director Mark David (American Cowslip).
Bill Camp (Presumed Innocent) has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s action thriller Karoshi, directed by Takashi Doscher and produced by 87Eleven Entertainment. It’s a corporate thriller with a samurai twist, starring Teo Yoo (Past Lives), Cynthia Erivo, and Takehiro Hira (Shōgun). Camp recently appeared in Sirens and The Gilded Age.
Friday Night Lights actor Taylor Kitsch is leading the survival thriller Eleven Days. Set in Texas in the 70s, Eleven Days follows the head of the Texas Department of Corrections (Kitsch), who plays a deadly game against a convicted heroin dealer. In The Terminal List (2022), Kitsch plays a former Navy SEAL mimicking similar themes of loyalty and mission-driven intensity.
Quincy Tyler Bernstine (Tony Nomination 2024: Doubt) has joined Liz Meriwether’s untitled Hulu series, inspired by the 80s neo noir thriller Black Widow (OG trailer), about a cat and mouse game between a woman who married and then murdered her rich husband, and an FBI agent trying to track her down. Quincy will be taking on the agent role. Lola Petticrew and Scoot McNairy also star.
James Carter Cathcart, beloved voice actor behind Pokémon’s James, Meowth, Professor Oak, and Gary (clip), has unfortunately passed away after retiring from voice acting in 2023 due to a throat cancer diagnosis. A prolific talent, he voiced over 700 episodes of the Pokémon series and guest-starred in many other animated films and TV shows.
Annie Potts (Ghostbusters receptionist) joins the new Fox medical comedy Best Medicine. She plays a crazy lobster woman with a big heart. Josh Charles (The Good Wife) leads the cast. Based on the British series Doc Martin.
Fight for 84 starring Jamie Foxx has cast Malachi Beasley (Yale School of Drama 23). Pretty impressive, as this is his first feature role. From director Andrés Baiz (Narcos).
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / FESTIVALS
Spawn of the Dead: Independent Film Company and Shudder have acquired North American rights to Queens of the Dead, a queer horror-comedy from Tina Romero, daughter of zombie film icon George A. Romero.
Logline:
Drag queens and club kids battle zombies craving brains during a zombie outbreak at their drag show in Brooklyn, putting personal conflicts aside to utilize their distinct abilities against the undead threat.
It ended up winning the Tribeca audience award. Tina could have a promising career, and zombies, no matter how glam, appear to run in the family. Queens of the Dead hits theaters this fall.
Intramovie (sales rep: 2023’s Paradise Is Burning) picks up White Snail, premiering at Locarno (full festival breakdown).
Synopsis:
Masha, a model pursuing her dream job in China, and Misha, a painter working in a morgue, form a profound, tragic relationship.
We love tragic romances like these.
Tidbits:
Dark Matter. Dark Energy. Dark Money. In the experimental doc Little, Big, and Far, the terrestrial and the celestial are intertwined. Snaking us through the petty problems of humans, and counterpointing it with our place in the cosmos, the film becomes profound (trailer). From director Jem Cohen (Museum Hours)
New Mountain Films has acquired North American rights to Nawi: Dear Future Me, Kenya’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature. Based on true events, the Kenyan-German drama follows a 13-year-old girl who escapes a forced marriage and walks to Nairobi to pursue education. U.S. release: Feb 2026.
Mini Tidbits:
Kino Lorber has acquired Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, which premiered at Cannes in the ACID section. No word on release date.
Gary Dauberman’s Coin Operated is developing Human Remains, a horror film by Zachary Donohue about the gnarly true-life events on a flight transporting a priest’s exorcism-ravaged corpse. Gross.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Oscar-winning director Jessica Yu (Quiz Lady, Fosse/Verdon) is directing Prime Video’s new Italian series, Italian Postcards.
The cast for the English language series is being kept hidden, but will follow a spoiled New York heiress who is sent to Sicily by her grandfather to work in the family real estate business.
Nicole Morganti (Amazon Studios head of Italian originals) thinks the new series will be instrumental in shifting focus to young adult audiences.
Tidbits:
First-time writer/director Agathe Reidinger’s French drama, Wild Diamond, which played in competition at Cannes, just got a trailer. It centers on a 19-year-old in the south of France who pines for stardom, so she auditions for a reality show. Reidinger approaches the young “trainwreck” with remarkable empathy and presents a very over-the-top but authentic commentary on social media’s impact and the age of the “influencer”. Trailer.
Disney and ITV have signed a new pact that will see them share a curated selection of content across their streaming services. Disney+ will carry a selection of titles from ITV, including Mr. Bates vs The Post Office and selected seasons of the reality hit Love Island. Around 70-100 hours of content from each streamer’s library will be shared. The new collaboration will launch on Jul. 16th and be available to subscribers of both platforms.
Netflix had us with The Platform, and now Brick. The German film follows an apartment complex that becomes fortified by impenetrable metal bricks. Leaving everyone inside stranded, trying to escape (trailer). It’s a very fun mind game.
ON THIS DAY
1989. Laurence Olivier dies at 82.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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