Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Apple’s Got Money Troubles, Warner Bros.’ Rattles, and a Bishop.
Let’s go!
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I sat down with Eva Anderson, the writer, EP, and co-showrunner on Apple TV+’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
The series follows Elle Fanning as a college student whose path to becoming a writer gets derailed as she encounters major money troubles and turns to OnlyFans modeling.
Anderson shared how her show resists easy cliches:
“This is never going to be a show about somebody who’s like a superstar OnlyFans model. That’s not mostly because I don’t think Margo cares about that. She doesn’t want to get super rich. She just wants to like be a weird, creative freak and get by…”
While the opening of the series centers on how her artistic passion becomes a trap, there are larger forces at work. Not just artistic expression, but genetic as well.
Anderson explained:
“If you don’t get the full formula, some of her decisions can seem kind of nuts and unrelatable. But once you’re like, oh, this is her mom (Michelle Pfeiffer). Oh, and this is her dad (Nick Offerman). Okay. I feel like she kind of clicks into place in a way that makes Elle’s performance completely make sense.”
And while Fanning is to a degree bound to biological mirroring, we watch in wonder as she forges a better life for her child.
For More:
Full interview with Eva Anderson + trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Warner Bros.’ Clockwork lands Park Chan-wook’s Brigands of Rattlecreek.
Netflix taps Philip Barantini to remake Steve McQueen’s The Getaway.
John Ottman sets Billy Joel biopic Billy & Me.
Netflix signs creative partnership w/ Super Mario Bros. directors.
Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions develops series adaptation of 4MK novels.
Warner Bros. moves forward on Rick and Morty movie.
Warner Bros. production EVP Kevin McCormick exits studio role.
ABC orders Texas-set Grey’s Anatomy spinoff.
Rhea Seehorn joins Gavin O’Connor’s homeless prodigy drama Running.
Snoop Dogg stars in boxing drama The Faith of Long Beach.
Michael Chiklis joins Amazon MGM culinary thriller Tyrant.
Francesca Scorsese joins S2 of Amazon’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Jennifer Beals joins Amazon thriller series Bishop, w/ Joel Kinnaman starring.
Briarcliff Entertainment acquires SXSW comedy Drag (prod: Danny DeVito).
Alfonso Herrera signs directing and EP deal with Sony Pictures Television.
I’ve just gotten out of Cannes official selection Minotaur, from Andrey Zvyagintsev, who wrote and directed Leviathan (Cannes, Best Screenplay, 2014). It is a taught, astonishing tale of a man trying to protect two kingdoms: home and company. Hanging over the entire thing is a blind sense of duty blanketing everything, that adds a wonderful absurdism. It is one of the stronger films at this year’s festival.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Pusher - Nicolas Winding Refn’s first feature.
54% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
While sitting comfortably as the President of the Cannes jury, director Park Chan-wook’s upcoming western, Brigands of Rattlecreek, has sold to Warner Bros. specialty label Clockwork for North America.
The buzzy film boasts a star-studded lineup of Matthew McConaughey, Austin Butler, Pedro Pascal, and Chinese actor Tang Wei (Decision to Leave), following a small-town sheriff and a doctor seeking revenge on a wild group of bandits. A master of both melodramatic violence and darkly poetic storytelling, it will be fascinating to see the western genre through the eyes of The Handmaiden director.
Clockwork’s only other project is the (also high-profile) follow-up feature from Anora helmer, Sean Baker’s Ti Amo!
Filming on Brigands of Rattlecreek is expected to start early in 2027.
Netflix’s Getaway. Philip Barantini (Dir: Netflix’s Adolescence) is remaking Steve McQueen's classic action film The Getaway (1972, trailer) for Netflix. The original film follows a paroled bank robber and his loyal wife who must outrun both corrupt lawmen and dangerous hitmen as they flee their way to cross the border into Mexico with a satchel of stolen cash. Peter Craig (Wri: The Batman) will write the script and produce the film.
The level of craftsmanship in Netflix’s Adolescence for their intricate police sequences has awed millions of viewers all over the world. While we followed the police in the series, we would love to see a version where the audience follows bank robbers as they try to escape from the police and hitmen. The reversal could result in something more morally chaotic – a ride we would love to join on.
Billy and Me, but hold the Billy. Oscar-winning editor John Ottman (Bohemian Rhapsody) is set to direct a biopic exploring the formative years of New York legend and “Piano Man” singer Billy Joel. The film is set to be told through the eyes of his first manager, Irwin Mazur, spanning the late ‘60s until Joel signed his breakout Columbia Records deal in 1972.
Joel, however, is not on board. The singer has publicly pushed back against the project, with his representative stating that the filmmakers:
“Do not possess Billy Joel’s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required.”
The film follows last year’s Tribeca opening night documentary, HBO’s And So It Goes (trailer), a two-part exploration with exclusive interviews with the singer and an extensive look at his six-decade-long career.
Tidbits:
The TV screen can no longer contain the chaos. Warner Bros. is moving forward on a Rick and Morty movie with one of the show’s key directors, Jacob Hair, attached to helm the feature-length project. Hair has directed some of the series’ most beloved episodes (“The Vat of Acid Episode”, “Rickmurai Jack”), becoming one of the strongest creatives behind the scifi madness alongside show creator Dan Harmon. The news comes ahead of the Emmy-winning show’s ninth season launching on Adult Swim next weekend.
Netflix signs creative partnership with Super Mario Bros. directors, Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath. The deal will see the duo develop both animated series and films for Netflix. Jelenic and Horvath have a long resume in directing animated films. They gained attention for their creative animation in Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go! and its spinoff film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018). They recently reached a multi-million dollar success with The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026), which earned more than $2bn worldwide.
Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions is developing a series adaptation of J.D. Barker’s 4MK thriller series. Barker’s novel follows Detective Sam Porter as he hunts the Four Monkey Killer, a serial murderer who has been terrorizing the city for years. The show will draw from Barker’s original trilogy (The Fourth Monkey, The Fifth to Die, The Sixth Wicked Child) as well as the recently announced prequel trilogy. Channing Powell (Showrunner: Tales of the Walking Dead) will showrun, write, and EP the show alongside Stallone.
Mini Tidbits:
Veteran Warner Bros. EVP of Production Kevin McCormick (Saturday Night Fever) is leaving the studio to take on a producer deal on the lot. His first project is the WB reboot of The Bodyguard, along with a number of studio-to-stage adaptations like Crazy Rich Asians and A Star Is Born.
Grey’s Anatomy in Texas. ABC just ordered a spinoff of its hit series Grey’s Anatomy, co-created by the original series’ creator, Shonda Rhimes. The show is being described as an edgy drama about a team at a rural West Texas medical center. Meg Marinis (Showrunner: Grey’s Anatomy) and Ellen Pompeo (EP: Grey’s Anatomy) will also EP the new series.
Head of the Television Literary Department Felicia Prinz is leaving LA-based talent agency Verve to be a partner at Range Studios (The Lincoln Lawyer). Some clients joining Prinz include Ransom Canyon show creator April Blair and The Bold Type creator Sarah Watson. Prinz is set to be replaced at Verve by TV talent agent Chris Noriega.
Trailers:
Paramount+’s The Agency
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Jodie Turner-Smith
Release: June 21
Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan S5
Release: June 12
HBO’S Bring Me the Beauties
Docuseries on male supermodel Hoyt Richards
Release: June 1
Comedy Central’s South Park S29
Release: Sept 16
Production Dates:
20th Century Studios’ King Conan
Dir: Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible)
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan the Barbarian)
Shooting: 2027
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Rhea Seehorn has found her next Apple project. Not long after taking home a Golden Globe for leading Vince Gilligan’s ambitious Apple sci-fi series Pluribus, Seehorn has joined the cast of Running.
From director Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant), the film follows a homeless high school prodigy attempting to use his gifts for greatness as he runs away from his family and his past.
While Seehorn’s part is unknown, there’s a creative DNA here similar to her breakout role as Kim Wexler on Gilligan’s Better Call Saul. Smart and sure of herself, Wexler was able to let her guard down around the lovable but skeevy Saul, recognizing both his destructive impulses and undeniable talent. That same dynamic, empathy in the face of inconspicuous potential, would fit well in Running, with Seehorn as a patient character able to see past flaws and understand what someone could become.
Tidbits:
Snoop Dogg stars in boxing drama The Faith of Long Beach, alongside Brandon Perea (Nope). Written and directed by Eric Amadio (Snowfall), the film follows a street fighter raised in a Long Beach group home who tries to find a career in professional boxing. No info on Snoop’s role yet, but we would love to see him as a mentor figure for this struggling boxer. Snoop Dogg has played a washed-up NFL superstar sentenced to community service coaching a youth football group in Prime Video’s The Underdoggs (Trailer). We hope to see the same playful yet sincere energy in this new drama.
Amazon casting tidbits:
Michael Chiklis
Francesca Scorsese
Jennifer Beals
All three here.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Three films join the Cannes Market, including one starring Melissa Leo. More details on those films + the rest of the movies at the Market here.
Cinetic is having a busy couple of weeks. The New York-based Cinetic Media (Fjord) has worldwide sales rights to Freefall, a documentary following two of the world’s “most celebrated aerial daredevils”. The doc marks a reunion between Cinetic and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’s Passion Pictures.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Briarcliff Entertainment’s newest pickup is very Briarcliff (The Apprentice). The studio has acquired distribution rights to SXSW heist thriller-comedy Drag starring Lizzy Caplan, John Stamos, and Lucy DeVito (Leaves of Grass).
Blending crime with comedy chaos, it’s the exact type of edgy, mid-budget adult genre fare that most would pass on, but the studio has built its brand around.
The feature directorial debut of Disney Channel actor Raviv Ullman (Phil of the Future), the film follows two estranged sisters who attempt a simple home burglary that spirals into a nightmarish ordeal and a race to escape, unpacking endless layers of sibling rivalry. It’s absurdist then nightmarish and we totally dug it when we saw the premiere at SXSW.
We even interviewed producer Danny DeVito and daughter Lucy about the film. Check that out here.
Mini Tidbits:
Indie distributor Sox Entertainment (Judy Justice) has picked up the rights to Stronger Than You Think, a documentary telling the inspiring story of Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit. The film will look closely at the 2024 Paris Games, where Truwit won two silver medals less than a year after losing half her leg in a shark attack.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Romanian filmmaker Constantin Popescu (Dir: Pororoca) is directing the first two features in a new franchise, Birds of the Soul. The film will be set in the Carpathian Mountains in 1917, following a remote village haunted by wartime paranoia and supernatural forces. The new franchise will be launched by Just Entertainment (Distributor: Inspector Gadget) and AiMation.
The premise strongly reminds us of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), a historical film set during wartime, but it blends mythical elements into its story. Popescu is well-known for bringing a certain level of realism and atmosphere to his work, and we are looking forward to seeing how he will collide the very real terrors of war with the supernatural.
Mini Tidbit:
Ozark actor Alfonso Herrera has signed on to a behind-the-camera deal with Sony Pictures Television to direct and executive produce future series. With an extensive background in both English and Spanish-language TV, Herrera will have a focus on building up the Latin American slate for SPT.
ON THIS DAY
1908. James Stewart born in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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