Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Utopia’s Bunny, Sony’s Metal and a Leopard.
Let’s go!
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I sat down with Katarina Zhu, the writer, director, and star of Utopia’s Bunnylovr, which premiered at Sundance and releases this weekend.
The film takes us into the world of a cam girl Brooklyn burnout (Zhu), who splits her time moping around her apartment, working a weird little assistant job, and being painted by her artsy friend (Rachel Sennott).
What makes the film so intriguing is the various ways in which Katarina’s character is seen by other people. As a cam girl, she’s a fetish object. With her painter friend, a muse. And to her father, she’s a child.
Katarina struggles to form her own identity outside the other identities to which she is beholden.
Zhu shared:
“This isn’t a character that’s super forthcoming or like the easiest to access as an audience member. So one of the ways in which we wanted you to be able to feel close to this character… was visually being really close up on her face and seeing all these micro movements and feeling really intimate with her.”
The camera locates Zhu’s loneliness well before she is able to define it for herself. And this stifling closeness forces her to take a risk.
She explained:
“You’re looking for validation in places that you might not normally look for it, or you’re willing to do things that you might not normally do, in order to just like fill the void and feel anything other than this like deep, deep loneliness.”
By the end, she burns herself out trying to be what other people want her to be, which forces her, for the first time, to look inward.
For More:
Full interview with Katarina Zhu + Bunnylovr trailer. It’s a super impressive feature debut.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Paramount Skydance reworks its WBD deal financing.
David Zaslav’s reported $887M golden parachute deal is challenged.
Jeff Shell will receive $5M in severance following his exit from Paramount.
Final Destination: Bloodlines directors will helm Sony’s Metal Gear Solid.
Disney has set a new communications structure.
CBS greenlights vampire family comedy Eternally Yours from Ghosts creators.
Chris Bremner has sold action-comedy sci-fi spec Ram to Netflix.
Starz is developing Gary Lennon’s crime series Los Feliz.
Prime Video moves ahead with Calamities w/ Glen Powell’s prod co.
Apple’s The Husbands adds Richard Gadd and Joel Kinnaman.
Jane Alexander (All the President’s Men) stars in Lillian, Next Door.
Kevin Bacon will lead in Hulu’s drama Southern Bastards.
Eve Hewson will star opposite Channing Tatum in Amazon MGM’s Isle of Man.
Appian Way boards SXSW doc Snow Leopard Sisters.
Jon Watts produces Manuel Figueroa’s feature debut.
Yesterday’s correct answer: In Being John Malkovich, Diaz looked unrecognizable.
55% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Paramount Skydance’s deal financing is changing. Previously it was:
$47bn from the Ellison family + RedBird Capital Partners
$54bn debt commitment from Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Apollo
$15bn to cover WBD’s bridge facility
$39bn new debt
$3.5bn bridge financing from Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Apollo to cover $3.5bn line of revolving credit.
Now the $54bn is getting reduced to $49bn and spread across 18 lenders. The $3.5bn bridge financing will now be $0.
So what happened to that $8.5bn? PSKY no longer needs as much bridge financing because it has replaced part of the deal package with permanent financing, including $5B of term loans and revolving credit facilities.
Get the full details here.
No, no, no, no, don’t mess with my payday. Ok, so we doubt the Black Eyed Peas are playing in the background, but David Zaslav’s $887M “golden parachute” payday, which would be granted following the close of the PSKY acquisition of WBD, is being called into question by Institutional Shareholder Services. They have a lot of sway with investors. So we’ll see where the WBD shareholder vote lands on April 23rd.
Jeff Shell, Paramount Skydance’s former President, is getting $5M in severance pay. Full details here, on Pg 4 and 278.
Non-Paramount Tidbits:
Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein, directors of Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025), are set to direct the Metal Gear Solid film adaptation. The legendary video game franchise by Hideo Kojima follows Solid Snake, a genetically engineered spy who goes on impossible missions. Known for being a pioneer in tactical 3D espionage games, Metal Gear Solid has amassed a huge fanbase – even appearing as one of the champions for the hit Nintendo crossover game Super Smash Bros. The film will be developed by Columbia Pictures with a first-look producing deal for the directors from Sony. The director duo Lipovsky and Stein revitalized the Final Destination series by mixing their mastery of suspense and tension with some great character depth, and we hope to see them successfully bring one of Japan’s most legendary games to life.
Prime Video is moving forward with the Texas-set crime series Calamities with Glen Powell and Dan Cohen’s production banner Barnstorm (Hit Man) on board. After a drug deal erupts into violence, a quiet border town becomes a battleground between a haunted sheriff, a sociopathic hitwoman, an overeager FBI agent, and a ruthless cartel sect. This news comes shortly after Barnstorm won the rights to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also set to be adapted into a series. The writer behind Amazon’s Hunters David Weil will write and direct Calamities.
Mini Tidbits:
CBS greenlights new single-camera comedy series, Eternally Yours, about a family of vampires, from the creators of CBS’ Ghosts, Joe Port and Joe Wiseman. Despite the financial challenges of producing single-cam comedies for broadcast vs. the more budget-friendly multi-cams, CBS has remained committed to the comedic genre.
Chris Bremner (wri: Bad Boys for Life) sells a spec script, Ram, to Netflix. It’s an action-comedy sci-fi. Bremner has been on fire lately; he’s writing the reboot script for the Men in Black franchise.
Euphoria EP Gary Lennon is developing Los Feliz, an emotional crime series with Starz. The L.A.-set series follows a messy affair that not only destroys friendships and careers resulting in a murder case. Lennon has currently been in development on the new Power spinoff Power: Legacy also with Starz.
Book Adaptations from:
Amazon MGM
Warner Bros. Animation
Full breakdown here.
Executive Shifts:
Disney
Anonymous Content
Noah Hawley’s 26 Keys
Full details here.
Renewals:
HBO’s Rooster (for S2)
Star: Steve Carell
Trailers:
Marvel’s The Punisher: One Last Kill (TV Special)
Dir: Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard)
Cast: Jon Bernthal
Disney+ release: May 12
Lionsgate’s Mutiny
Cast: Jason Statham
Release: Aug 21
Paramount+’s My Killer Father: The Green Hollow Murders
Release: April 28
First look:
Netflix’s Ray Gunn
Dir: Brad Bird (The Incredibles)
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson
Prod Co: Skydance Animation
Release dates:
Fathom Entertainment and Cineverse’s Pan’s Labyrinth (20th Anniversary)
Release: Oct 9
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Four-time Oscar nominee Jane Alexander (All the President’s Men, Severance) has found her next role in Lillian, Next Door. She’ll headline as the titular ex-CIA operative who infiltrates the lives of two mysterious gay men who move in next door, discovering more about herself through her new unexpected friendship.
Alexander has extensive experience within the world of crime dramas, from NBC’s The Blacklist to CBS’ Elementary, she has carved out a knack for playing strong, inquisitive women.
Described as an “emotionally layered” crime dramedy, Lillian, Next Door will start filming in Nova Scotia this month.
A24’s take on polygamy? Apple TV’s The Husbands releases the cast for the multiple on-screen husbands of Juno Temple, including Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer).
A new dramedy mystery series based on Holly Gramazio’s best-selling novel, the series will follow Lauren (Temple) who returns to her London flat one night only to discover that her magical attic keeps on making men who claim to be her husband.
We’re excited to see Gadd take on another bold take on modern relationships, following his gripping portrayal of a man being stalked in Baby Reindeer. The cast includes Joel Kinnaman.
Lionsgate is watching The Pitt. Their upcoming film, Head Full of Ghosts adds Fiona Dourif (Dr. McKay on The Pitt) to the cast.
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Synopsis:
The Barretts’ normal suburban New England life is torn apart when their teenage daughter shows signs of acute schizophrenia, reluctantly leading them to be the subjects of a reality show. 15 years later, Merry faces her haunting past.
Dourif is great at dealing with mentally troubled patients so this role should be a breeze. David Harbour and Rebecca Hall also star.
Tidbits:
Kevin Bacon will lead in Hulu’s drama Southern Bastards. Based on the graphic novel of the same name. Bacon will play a tough yet humble army veteran. This isn’t the first time we saw Bacon play a soldier with his portrayal of a stoic yet honorful soldier escorting the deceased soldiers’ body back to the homeland in Taking Chance (2009, trailer). This project has a good pedigree: Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media. Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard) directs and Nia DaCosta (Hedda) is a writer.
Eve Hewson (The Perfect Couple) will star opposite Channing Tatum in Amazon MGM’s Isle of Man. Eve Hewson previously starred in Steven Spielberg’s Cold War drama, Bridge of Spies (2015), as Tom Hanks’ character’s eldest daughter. The new film will follow Isle of Man TT, the world’s oldest running motorsport event. Pitt’s Plan B + Tatum’s Free Association will produce the film.
Shortly after her beautifully grounded presence in Train Dreams, Kerry Condon is set to headline Netflix’s The God of the Woods alongside Maya Hawke. Adapted from the bestseller of the same name, the story is a multi-generational drama with Condon playing a grief-stricken woman reeling with the unimaginable disappearance of her teenage daughter.
Mini Casting Tidbits:
Tom Pelphrey
Tyga
Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine)
Rachel Sennott
Full breakdown of their new roles here.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Sundance CDMX is back for its 3rd edition. Running from April 30 to May 3, Mexico City-centered Sundance brings films from around the world to the famous Cinépolis Diana theater. Lineup here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions to EP feature documentary Snow Leopard Sisters. The doc premiered at SXSW and follows a snow leopard conservationist duo as they navigate the isolated terrains of the Himalayas. DiCaprio’s Appian Way has a flurry of these types of docs like The 11th Hour (2007), Before the Flood (2016), and Ice on Fire (2019). An accompanying campaign to the film was designed to support the snow leopard population of the Himalayas, connecting with the locals and snow leopard conservationists (trailer).
Jon Watts (dir: Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Ruben Fleischer (dir: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t) to produce Manuel Figueroa’s feature debut Wild Ones. The film will star Annie Gonzalez (Relationship Goals) and will be set in the mid-’90s world of Latinx Los Angeles as a young senior named Eddie, who lives the life of the party, meets a responsible schoolgirl, Darlene. Figueroa has been grinding for a while, starting as a location assistant on Training Day (2001) and a PA on Anger Management (2003).
Mini Tidbits:
Inaugural Entertainment (Afterburn) picks up Nimrods. It premiered at TIFF and features a wild Green Day plot. Read more about it here.
ON THIS DAY
1929. Max von Sydow born in Lund, Sweden.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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