Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese and Sundance’s Condition.
Let’s go!
If you’re headed to Sundance check a full breakdown of the line-up:
https://theindustry.co/p/the-sundance-lineup-2025
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Oceans 14 is moving forward, potentially with director David Leitch (Fall Guy, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde).
Martin Scorsese is in talks to direct The Devil in the White City, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for 20th Century.
Prime Video officially greenlit Julie C. Dao’s bestselling fantasy series Rise of the Empress.
Rob Eggers, riding high off Nosferatu, is lined up to direct Werwulf for Focus Features.
The Oscars are going to skip out on musical moments this year.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment President Michael Bonner is taking on the new role of President of Global TV Distribution.
HBO renews The White Lotus for Season 4.
Robert De Niro looks deliriously frantic in Netflix’s Zero Day.
A Sundance premiering film, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, has been pulled from the festival after the production company accused the director of submitting one cut to them and a 2nd cut to festivals.
SXSW has dropped their full line-up, including The Accountant 2, a new Nicole Kidman film, and the long-awaited sophomore film by Geremy Jasper (Patti Cake$)
Mean Girls (2004) director Mark Waters is enjoying the Tuscan sun with Scott Foley (Scandal) in Netflix’s newest rom-co,m La Dolce Villa.
Sundance's international film The Things You Kill is a mind-bending Turkey-set thriller.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Oceans 14 update.
Oceans 14 is moving forward, potentially with director David Leitch (Fall Guy, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde)… and while this could be a dumpster fire a la Oceans 12 (where the cast treated the set like a playground), I’m hoping that enough time has passed where this could be a rare blockbuster sequel that is both resonant and garners major studio dollars.
Here are the details: https://theindustry.co/p/george-clooney-a-dumpster-fire
Martin Scorsese is in talks to direct The Devil in the White City, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for 20th Century. Both highly anticipated and having been in the works for years, the film adaptation of Erik Larson’s 2003 nonfiction The Devil in the White City finally seems to be happening.
This would be Scorsese and DiCaprio’s 7th film together, following the recent Killers of the Flower Moon. Scorsese is magnificent at bringing out DiCaprio’s boyish charm and devilish nature.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America tells parallel stories of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who preyed on victims drawn to the fair. Architect Daniel H. Burnham led the construction of the "White City", while Holmes, a charming doctor, built a "World's Fair Hotel" nearby. The hotel, equipped with a crematorium and gas chamber, became the last known location for many young women who disappeared during the fair.
DiCaprio and his Appian Way Productions acquired rights to the book back in 2010, and while the story over the years has been developed in many different iterations, nothing has come to fruition.
This marks another massive victory for David Greenbaum of Disney Live Action Steve Asbell, president of 20th Century Studios, who just landed another high-profile package: the Bruce Springsteen pic Deliver Me from Nowhere starring The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White.
There is not yet a script for the Erik Larson film adaptation, yet it has already been said that the feature will be made for a theatrical release.
Rob Eggers, riding high off Nosferatu, is lined up to direct Werwulf for Focus Features.
There is no synopsis other than the setting: 13th century England.
The team is rock solid:
Dir/Wri: Eggers
Co-Writer: Sjón (The Northman)
EP: Chris Columbus (Prod: Nosferatu, Dir: Harry Potter 1)
Studio: Focus Features
Focus is currently riding high with Nosferatu, which has earned Eggers a career-best box office of $156.8 M.
Eggers excels at strict attention to detail in period pieces, mining the lore of yesteryear for the most primal and psychosexual elements.
It’s interesting that Universal Pictures (under the same NBCU parent company as Focus) just put out Wolf Man (2025), which has underperformed at the box office.
Eggers's brilliantly dark imagination will be sure to resurrect this film.
Prime Video is looking to capitalize on the rapidly growing world of fantasy with an adaptation of Julie C. Dao’s bestselling series Rise of the Empress (IMDBPro Link) officially greenlit for the streamer. The Amazon MGM Studio series comes from American Horror Story writers, producers, and co-showrunners Crystal Liu and James Wong, with actress Gemma Chan (The Creator, Don’t Worry Darling) acting as executive producer.
Described as a fantastical ancient Asian Empire on the verge of destruction, torn apart by an insidious rivalry with the only hope being a marriage between the handsome heir to the throne and a princess from one of its feuding kingdoms.
The Vietnamese author’s Rise of the Empress series is compiled of her debut fantasy novel Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and its sequel Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix act as an East Asian-inspired retelling of the Evil Queen from Snow White.
Prime Video’s original fantasy TV offerings include The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-) series and Wheel of Time (2021-), with romantic YA projects like The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022-) and the upcoming Off-Campus (2025).
The eight-episode Rise of the Empress series is set to film in Malaysia later this year.
Tidbits:
Paramount Faces Lawsuit Over $500M South Park Deal: A court ruled Paramount must face claims from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) alleging breach of a $500M South Park licensing deal. The suit alleges that Paramount convinced the South Park team to breach its deal with WBD and paywalled three of its specials in a way to skirt requirements and seasonal agreements previously laid out between both parties. Warner Bros may now move forward to take some or all of the profits from the specials. But we personally can't wait to see the episodes that come out of this one. Hey, maybe even a brand new special, right, fellas?
The Oscars are going to skip out on musical moments this year. As Conan O’Brien gets himself ready to host the 97th Academy Awards. Members got some disappointing news, this year’s Oscar-nominated songs will not be performed live like they had been previously and will instead be replaced by other musical guests and “moments of reflection” from the songwriters. While the show must go on, it's a bit disappointing. Gosling’s I'm just Ken live rendition was a big talking point at last year's awards. The 97th Oscars will take place on March 2nd this year.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment President Michael Bonner is taking on the new role of President of Global TV Distribution. Bonner represents NBCUniversal TV Distribution internationally and will oversee 20 offices worldwide with over 1,800 clients. Justin Che is taking over Bonner’s former position as UPHE, he previously acted as the Managing Director of APAC TV Distribution.
Renewals:
HBO’s The White Lotus (Season 4)
Season 3 drops Feb 16th
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Robert De Niro looks deliriously frantic in Netflix’s Zero Day, and we love it! In the upcoming Netflix series, he plays the former President of the United States.
Here’s the series synopsis:
After a cyberattack sabotages transportation and power infrastructure across the U.S., former President George Mullen is asked to find the culprit.
Here’s the full trailer. The show is due out on February 20th. The also stacked cast includes Angela Bassett (playing the sitting President) and Jesse Plemons, who looks great, as always.
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Kelly Marie Tran and David Dastmalchian will star in Kodak SuperXX, a psychological thriller that follows a darkroom developer (Tran) whose life unravels after meeting a mysterious stranger (Dastmalchian). Inspired by Nightcrawler and The Conversation, production begins this year.
FESTIVAL NEWS
One of the upcoming features premiering at Sundance has been pulled. BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions. The director Kahlil Joseph (Beyonce’s Lemonade) was accused by his financiers/prod company, Participant Media, of submitting one cut to them and a 2nd cut to festivals.
Here’s the film’s synopsis:
Preeminent West African curator and scholar Funmilayo Akechukwu’s magnum opus, The Resonance Field, leads her to the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, drawing a journalist into a journey that shatters her understanding of consciousness and time.
Sundance stated:
“We are deeply disappointed to have been informed this on Tuesday evening, January 21, by Participant Media that they have pulled BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. We were looking forward to premiering the film for our audiences…”
This is an odd one: every once in a while, films get pulled from Sundance if a filmmaker makes misleading claims about themselves, or if the filmmaker feels their film is incomplete, or once when Sundance switched to virtual.
It’s sad that this one is going to be stuck in limbo. We’ll see what happens and keep everyone updated.
SXSW has dropped their full line-up. Here’s what we’re most excited about:
The Accountant 2
Dir: Gavin O'Connor (The Accountant, Warrior)
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons
Synopsis:
Christian Wolff is brought out of hiding by Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina after someone close to them is killed by unknown assassins. To solve the murder, Wolff must recruit the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother, Brax.
First look photo of Affleck and Bernthal.
Dir: Mimi Cave (Hulu’s Fresh)
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Gael García
Synopsis:
In this unpredictable thriller, Nancy is a teacher whose life with her husband in Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale when she and her colleague become suspicious of a secret. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Jude Hill, Gael García Bernal.
Kidman looks frantic - first look photo.
Fucktoys (we went to try to get the IMDb link but got scared)
Dir/Wri:Annapurna Sriram
Synopsis:
Join AP on a bubblegum grindhouse adventure through sunny and romantic Trashtown, USA. In this raucous odyssey, a wanton minx quests hard across a dreamy landscape of smut, filth, and psychics, hustling to lift a curse that has been f-cking her sh-t up
Dir/wri: Geremy Jasper
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O'Dessa is a rock opera about a farm girl on a quest to recover a family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a dangerous city, where she must use the power of destiny and song to save her true love’s soul.
First look photo. Finally, Jasper is back after Patti Cake$ (2017), which was mind-blowingly sonically amazing and doused with magical realism.
Also, A24’s Death of a Unicorn. Read our cover story here about the real Unicorn of the project:
https://theindustry.co/p/unicorn
Plus Blumhouse’s The Drop (trailer).
Here’s the full SXSW line-up.
Tidbit:
Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal (Evil Does Not Exist) will be dealing with international sales for Chinese director Meng Huo’s highly anticipated epic family tale and sophomore feature Living the Land, which is having its world premiere next month in the Berlinale Competition.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Mean Girls (2004) director Mark Waters is enjoying the Tuscan sun with Scott Foley (Scandal) in Netflix’s newest romcom La Dolce Villa.
Official Logline:
Eric (Foley) a successful businessman who travels to Italy to stop his daydreaming daughter (Hadestown’s Maia Reficco) from restoring a crumbling villa. Italy, however, has different plans for him as it delivers on its legendary promise of beauty, magic, and romance.
Waters, having directed films like the Jamie Lee Curtis/Lindsay Lohan comedy Freaky Friday (2003) and last year’s Brooke Shields-led Mother of the Bride (trailer) also with Netflix, has plenty of past experience tackling family comedies able to consistently deliver lots of playful and lighthearted fun.
La Dolce Villa premieres Feb. 13th on Netflix. Watch the newly dropped trailer here.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The unsettling trailer for The Things You Kill has dropped, deemed a must-see ahead of its premiere in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic competition this week.
Official Logline:
Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, a university professor coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.
The mind-bending new Turkey-set thriller comes from Iranian director-writer Alireza Khatami (Terrestrial Verses, the only Iranian film to premiere at Cannes 2023). The trailer for Khatami’s bold third feature and Sundance directorial debut is mesmerizing visual and looks like a truly unpredictable psychological thriller that should play well at the festival.
ON THIS DAY
Johnny Carson (1925 - 2005) passed away.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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