Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
James Cameron’s Fire, Chris Rock’s Green.
Let’s go!
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How do you make a story for a billion people?
From Titanic to Avatar, James Cameron's films have grossed $8.7bn (2nd only to Spielberg) and sold tickets to roughly 1bn people.
Although he will eventually make a non-Avatar film, Hiroshima, Cameron excels at making artistic movies for the masses that tap into our primal feelings as a species.
The Avatar films come with a sweeping, if not simplistic, imperative to stop eradicating our natural environment. With films excelling at showing the horrors when we strike against our lush forests or sacred bodies of water.
But there is a flip side to this, one that for me is the singular reason why I will go to see this in the theater: Cameron’s magical way at rendering the Avatar people’s harmonious symbiosis with nature.
In Avatar (2009), it was the forests and feeling the phantasmagorically lush textures of the trees forming a bond with the Na'vi (clip below). In Avatar: Way of Water (2022), it was the beautiful underwater society and culture that was created in that film.
And in Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025), which has just revealed a teaser, the draw here seems to be fire. And although only glimpses in the trailer are seen, what wowed me was the beauty of seeing these blue Avatar creatures conjure red balls fires.
Cameron has created his own species, with traditions and lore, engendering society with indelible visuals that feel both profound and primal.
We look forward to this grossing $2bn+ at the box office when it releases on Dec 19th.
For More:
Avatar: Fire and Ash trailer.
Avatar one with nature scene.
Cameron is a pioneer of film technology. Just like at the stunning combo of VFX and practicals in Terminator 2 (trailer).
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Warner Bros. Discovery splits (back) into two: Discovery Global and Warner Bros.
Josh Greenstein exits Sony to join Skydance/Paramount leadership.
Sony elevates Peter Kang to President of Production.
UCP adapting American Fiction source material author Percival Everett’s The Trees.
Dan Levy’s prod co hires Anne-Marie McGintee to head up Film/TV.
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood sequel begins filming.
Rebecca Hall, Vicky Krieps join Netflix’s Monsters: Lizzie Borden.
Pilou Asbæk joins Blood on Snow from Cary Fukunaga.
Mascots casts Mickey Rourke, Mekhi Phifer, Udo Kier.
Chris Rock to direct A24’s Misty Green starring Adam Driver.
Andrea Iervolino (Ferrari) producing Bruce McLaren biopic.
Mariana Enríquez’s Where Are You, Heart? acquired by AF.
Amazon’s first Germany film is the WW2 drama Der Tiger.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting (back) into two distinct units:
The Global Linear Networks company will be called (drum roll please) Discovery Global. It will house:
CNN
TBS
Food Network
Cartoon Network
HGTV
Discovery+
TNT Sports (US)
Leadership:
Gunnar Wiedenfels (CEO and President)
Gerhard Zeiler (President, CCO)
Fraser Woodford (CFO)
The Studios & Streaming company will be called Warner Bros.
It will house:
Warner Bros. Studios (film/TV)
HBO + HBO’s linear channels
Max
TNT Sports International
DC Studios and DC Comics Publishing
New Line Cinema
Leadership:
David Zaslav, President and CEO
Pam Abdy, Mike De Luca (CEO, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group)
JB Perrette (CEO and president of streaming and games)
Casey Bloys (CEO, HBO)
For those keeping track, the company is facing massive challenges:
60% stock drop since WarnerMedia merged with Discovery in 2022
$40 bn debt
Q1 2025 $1.8bn EBITDA linear division
↓ 14% overall vs. last year
↓ 11% ad revenue vs. last year
The reorganization will be completed by the summer of 2026.
Skydance’s leadership is starting to take shape. After the merger with Paramount was solidified late last week, there’s a new member joining the team: Josh Greenstein.
Greenstein is exiting Sony where he serves as the president of their Motion Picture Group. He used to be Sony’s head marketing chief, overseeing films like Napoleon. No word on his new Skydance role, maybe president of Skydance/Paramount Pictures?
He has a good connection with David Ellison (soon to be president of Skydance/Paramount), as he was previously at Paramount as head of marketing and distribution, working on joint Skydance/Paramount projects, including Mission: Impossible and the Star Trek and Transformers franchises.
Greenstein is cut from steel, his first gig in the business was as Scott Rudin’s assistant in 1998, later becoming Bob Weinstein’s assistant in the early 2000s.
Sony, meanwhile, down a key player, is elevating Peter Kang to President of Production at Sony Motion Picture Group. He won’t replace Greenstein but Kang will report to Greenstein’s former counterpart, Sanford Panitch.
Tidbits:
Percival Everett’s novels are hitting big. First American Fiction (based on Erasure) wins TIFF, then Spielberg picks up James, and now UCP (Universal Content Productions) grabs his acclaimed thriller novel The Trees. The limited series has an all-star trio of actors attached. Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers), Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown (Paradise), and Winston Duke (Black Panther) will star in a powerful story of racial reckoning and historical justice.
Dan Levy’s Not a Real Production Company has named Anne-Marie McGintee head of film and TV. Formerly of Ava DuVernay’s Array, McGintee will oversee development under the company’s Netflix deal. Upcoming projects include a crime comedy series and a Lilith Fair doc.
Fincher's Cliff Booth sequel has started shooting, expanding on the reluctant hero from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. We are already seeing vintage storefronts pop up in LA. We also should expect more casting like the recently announced Corey Fogelmanis (Ma, I Wish you All the Best).
Meet the Parents 4 announces its name will be Focker-in-Law. It will follow Skyler Gisando introducing his fiancée (Ariana Grande) to Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and family, including his grandfather (Robert De Niro).
2x Eddie Murphy-announced spinoffs/reboots in the very early stages, starring Murphy:
DreamWorks’ Shrek Donkey movie spinoff
Tentative Release: 2028
Pink Panther spinoff
Stars Murphy as Inspector Clouseau
Renewal:
HBO’s Gilded Age (for Season 4)
Trailers:
Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda
Dir: Todd Harris (Storyboard artist: Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame)
EP: Ryan Coogler
Streaming: Aug 1
Release dates:
Fox’s Doc (Season 2)
Premiere: Sept 23rd
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
From Broadway to the new face of true-crime, Netflix’s anthology series, Monsters, has found a new killer lead in Ella Beatty (Sundance’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You). From Ryan Murphy, the forthcoming fourth season will focus on Lizzie Borden (played by Beatty), the infamous suspect in the unsolved brutal murders of her father and stepmother.
This will not be Beatty’s first time working with co-creator Murphy; as the actress made her acting debut in a recurring role in FX’s Capote vs. the Swans as the screenwriter’s young protégé Kerry O’Shea. She has a stoic demeanor that isn’t easily ruffled by the older swans (clip).
Lizzie Borden was famous for her calm demeanor when answering police questions following the murder of her parents so Beatty should do quite well in the part.
Before the third season even premiered (set to follow murderer Ed Gein) Monsters was renewed for a fourth that’ll start production this fall.
Tidbits:
Channel 4’s BAFTA-winning anthology series I Am has cast Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) as its season four lead. The Irish actress will star alongside Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole in a two-episode story titled I Am Helen. Best known as the infamous Lady Whistledown in Netflix’s hit adaptation series Bridgerton, Coughlan will follow in the footsteps of the female-led show’s previous stars Kate Winslet and Lesley Manville.
Monica Barbaro confirmed to join cast of Amazon MGM’s Artificial, directed by Luca Guadagnino (Challengers) and co-starring Andrew Garfield and Yura Borisov (Anora). This film follows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the tumultuous days when he is fired and then rehired. Barbaro recently was sensational as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. She takes no BS in that film, and we could see her pushing back, hard against any billionaires.
Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) joins Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Blood on Snow, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an assassin who falls in love with his mob-wife target. Currently filming in Latvia.
Mini Tidbit:
First look photo of Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s Monster:
FESTIVALS
The Biggest US documentary festival, Doc NYC has an upcoming pitch event.
Open to those in NYC the event will allow 18 teams to pitch their projects to experts.
Past industry experts have worked at companies such as:
Amazon Studios
Disney+
Fifth Season
HBO
IFC Films
Imagine Entertainment
National Geographic
Netflix
The best pitch wins $6,000. The deadline to submit is Friday:
https://www.docnyc.net/we-are-open-2025-pitch-days-submissions/
Bendita Film Sales (Sales Rep: Locarno’s Toxic) picks up San Sebastián festival’s Dance of the Living (New Directors section).
Synopsis:
Set on the desert island of Fuerteventura, Miguel struggles to move on after their mother’s death. His and his daughter’s lives revolve around Canarian wrestling, but Miguel’s knee injury and Mariana’s rage threaten to unravel it all.
Film Forum premieres the trailer for My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow which premiered at NYFF and Berlin Film Festival. Opens Friday, August 15. This is the first feature in over a decade from the director Julia Loktev. Her previous was IFC Films’ The Loneliest Planet (2011) starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which premiered at TIFF and NYFF.
TECH SECTION
Shekhar Kapur (dir: 1998’s Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett) is back on the radar with an AI film. I have some thoughts… https://theindustry.co/p/ais-warlord.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Chris Rock got the silly slapped out of him: The comedian is turning to A24 to add validity to his directing career which until now has consisted of a couple of RomComs (I Think I Love My Wife, Top Five), Comedy specials, and few episodes of his TV show Everybody Hates Chris.
Rock’s Misty Green will follow a derailed starlet, who is given a chance at a comeback. The cast is kind of incredible, Rosalind Elezasr (Slow Horses) will star, with Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya and Anna Kendrick all taking roles that are all under wraps.
This kind of reminds me what A24 did with Death of a Unicorn. They gave a relatively new director a stacked cast and used that to stretch outside of their arthouse shtick a bit: https://theindustry.co/p/unicorn
I have no idea if Chris Rock would be a good art house director or not, but I do empathize with him not wanting to be the loud, funny guy for the rest of his life. When he took on a serious role in the Saw franchise Spiral, everyone kind of laughed it off, but this is another step, and with talent like this behind it maybe it's a new outlet for Chris Rock, who's laughing now?
(Unless of course this is a comedy, we don’t really know much about the premise other than the logline, but it kind of ruins my end tag)
Andrea Iervolino, can’t get enough in the fast lane. He’s producing a biopic on Bruce McLaren a famous F1 driver.
Iervolino stated:
“From a child confined to a hospital bed to a genius of speed, Bruce didn’t just race—he built, innovated, and inspired.”
Here are Iervolino’s recent/upcoming racing related films that he produced:
Bugatti
Writer: Oscar-Winner Bobby Moresco (Co-Writer: Crash)
Maserati: The Brothers
Cast: Andy Garcia, Anthony Hopkins and Michele Morrone
Director: Bobby Moresco (Producer: Crash, Million Dollar Baby)
Michael Mann’s Ferrari
Maybe he’ll shoot at his new $300M studio in Tuscany that promises to offer a paradise for filmmakers looking to film period pieces in the rolling hills.
Spike Lee’s assistant on Da 5 Bloods, Kerry Mondragon, is directing his third feature, Mascots. It’s got…
This is your life and it’s getting paywalled one minute at a time…
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