Brad Pitt and No Other Land
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
A Cover Story on a festival favorite.
In The Industry News: Apple’s sequel howls. Curb Your Chat. DirecTV kills its deal.
Actor Spotlight: Idris Elba master of universe, Michael K. Willams’ final role.
Festivals: Tallinn’s Silent City Driver. And a Lynch look-a-like.
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight: Blur ran so Gorillaz could swim. A spinach contamination at the canning factory!
International News: Samantha Alba’s Swiss connection.
Let’s go!
Join our live event with Ted Hope (former Amazon Studios Head of Motion Picture Development, Production, and Acquisition) on how to build a career in the film industry tomorrow. Details here:
https://theindustry.co/p/live-workshop-ted-hope-on-how-to
No Other Land
No Other Land is not for the faint of heart.
The documentary premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, winning the Audience and Best Documentary Award. It also played at TIFF and NYFF and has just been awarded the IFSN Advocate Award.
Jordan Raup, co-founder of IFSN, stated:
“There is no film more essential this year than No Other Land, a work of extant collaboration and vérité documentation that illuminates the devastating day-to-day destruction of Palestinian livelihood.”
The film centers on Palestinian homes in the West Bank getting bulldozed by Israeli soldiers.
During these recurring events, the film develops the friendship between Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval, who also serve as co-directors of the film.
There’s something strikingly genuine about their bond, developed as the two break bread in the West Bank, the community where Basel lives. But their kinship is also haunted by extreme inequality: Basel lives under military occupation, and Yuval is unrestricted.
As the two smoke hookah, Yuval asks why Basel has lost interest in pursuing his law degree. Basel flips the question and asks Yuval what he would do in his shoes, watching his home get destroyed.
Yuval confesses:
“Basel, I don’t know how I would be if I were you.”
That’s what makes the film so powerful: the subjects striving for total empathy and realizing it is an impossible task.
But that is not the goal.
The film’s four filmmakers (Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szorwere) have created a tremendous documentary showing how people, no matter their backgrounds, can unite amidst hardships.
For More:
No Other Land’s heartbreakingly disturbing trailer.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
No More Wolfs. Apple’s sequel to Wolfs has been canceled. The Brad Pitt and George Clooney movie features the duo as lone wolf fixers whose paths unexpectedly intersect on a single job.
The director, Jon Watts (Dir: Spider-Man: No Way Home), killed the sequel because Apple pulled the film from a theatrical release at the last second.
He explained:
“I showed Apple my final cut of Wolfs early this year… They were extremely enthusiastic about it and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion.”
He continued:
“Apple didn’t cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner.”
Apple touted Wolfs as the most viewed movie in the history of Apple TV+, but that high viewership number came at the cost of forgoing the theatrical release, which was inevitable, given Apple’s underwhelming box office performances:
Argylle (2024)
$200 M budget
$96.2 M worldwide box office gross
Fly Me to the Moon (2024)
$100 M budget
$42.2 M worldwide
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
$210 M budget
$158 M worldwide
Napoleon (2023)
$200 M budget
$221.4 M worldwide
The theatrical business is hard, and Apple has failed to enter it responsibly.
We only wish they had taken the approach that Amazon did, making key executive hires in the indie film world who could greenlight projects from indie filmmakers and creating a larger slate of reasonably budgeted prestige projects so that they could more easily achieve financial success while boosting Prime memberships.
Next up, Apple’s F1 out theatrically (for now) June 27th 2025.
Jeff Schaffer, known for writing/directing on Curb Your Enthusiasm and The League, will direct Blow Up the Chat, a comedy in development at Warner Bros and Temple Hill. Written by Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo, the film revolves around a group of friends whose private and inappropriate year-long group chat gets hacked, threatening their lives and friendships. Produced in a partnership with Temple Hill (Smile 2).
No casting just yet, but as we know, Curb is a masterclass in milking the awkward moments, so this is definitely a cringe to look forward to.
DirecTV kills its deal to acquire Dish. As part of the deal, DirecTV would have assumed Echo’s $9.75 bn in debt. Bill Morrow, CEO of DIRECTV, stated:
"While we believed a combination of DIRECTV and DISH would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed Exchange Terms were necessary to protect DIRECTV's balance sheet and our operational flexibility,"
DirecTV likely wanted Dish’s bondholders to accept a "haircut"—a reduction in the total amount owed—by agreeing to forgo $1.5 bn of the $1.98 bn in bonds. Dish’s refusal to pursue such an agreement meant this condition couldn’t be met, killing the deal.
It’s a combo that would be a much-needed move, given the big subscriber losses to both companies from 2016 to 2024:
DirecTV
25.5 M → 10 M subscribers
Dish
14 M → 8 M subscribers
Combined, they would have had a total of 18 M subs and would be a stronger force against streaming. The new unrequited merger between the two satellite TV providers has been sought for decades, with the potential to create the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S.
Head of International Production at Amazon MGM Studios, Laine Kline, is stepping down at the end of the year after almost four years in the position. During his time at Amazon, he oversaw the production of all international movies and scripted and unscripted series. His slate includes projects like the Oscar-nominated Argentina 1985, the hit Spanish feature Culpa Mía, and the popular unscripted series LOL. Kline previously worked as Head of Sony Pictures International Productions for over five years and is said to be leaving his current position to pursue other opportunities.
Tidbit:
Colin Chilvers, renowned for his groundbreaking special effects in Superman (1978), has passed away at 79. Chilvers, who earned an Academy Award for making Christopher Reeve fly, revolutionized pre-CGI effects. His career spanned iconic works like Moonwalker (1988), Smooth Criminal (1988), and X-Men (2000).
Superman (1978) takes flight Clip
He will be missed.
TV executive Bonnie Hammer, after twenty years at NBCU and over 50 years in the television industry, is leaving her role as Vice Chairman on her own accord by the end of the year. The “Queen of Cable” while at NBCU helped orchestrate major mergers, worked on the launch of the now very popular Peacock streaming service, and has been behind several long-running TV programs throughout her career like:
Hammer was the one who decided not to renew her contract.
Esmail Corp (Leave the World Behind, Mr. Robot) has hired two new key executives in Sam Shafaghi and Natalie Domengeaux. Shafagi has been brought on as Creative Executive in film currently working on the A24 Zac Efron dark comedy, Famous, for Esmail. Domengeaux is tapped as a Creative Executive in television working now on the upcoming series adaptation of Lee Samantha Chang’s critically acclaimed novel The Family Chao, among other TV projects.
Mini Tidbits:
Louisiana’s Tax credit saved! The credit was in danger of being cut completely but instead was reduced from $150 M to $125 M.
Chuck Woolery has unfortunately passed away at 83. He was the game show icon known for Wheel of Fortune and Love Connection
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
The first teaser trailer of NBC’s highly anticipated spinoff series, Suits: LA begins with a sunny shot of the Los Angeles skyline.
Fans of the original show will immediately catch the all too familiar insanely catchy tune, Ima Robot’s “Greenback Boogie” which played as the opening theme for all nine seasons of the legal dramedy.
The quick teaser shows just glimpses of its stars, including Stephen Amell (Arrow), portraying Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor who created his own law firm on the West Coast. He is joined by The Walking Dead’s Josh McDermitt playing Stuart Lane, an overly energetic and often self-absorbed old friend of Amell’s Black.
Created by Aaron Korsh, the teaser should get Suits fans excited as it not only sounds but looks essentially like a newer version of the opening of the Netflix hit, that’s resurgence has ultimately been the major push needed to create this new series.
Watch the trailer here and watch Suits: LA on NBC when it debuts on Feb. 23rd, 2025.
If you are enjoying the newsletter and see its value, please consider supporting the newsletter by becoming a premium subscriber https://theindustry.co/subscribe
Idris Elba is in final negotiations to portray Duncan, aka Man-at-Arms, in Amazon MGM Studios' live-action Masters of the Universe adaptation, directed by Travis Knight. Starring alongside Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Camila Mendes as Teela, and Alison Brie as Evil Lyn (which we reported previously). Known for his roles in Luther, Pacific Rim, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Heimdall, Elba continues to expand his versatile filmography. He always seems to find a way to play the tough guy, as He-Mans right hand man, mentor and muscle this seems like a fun role on a fun project for Idris.
Masters of The Universe is set to release on Amazon on June 5, 2026.
Michael K. Williams’ last film. Before his unfortunate passing in 2021, the actor, a staple of cinema, starred in The Brown Dog, an animated short film in which he lends his voice to a nihilistic, self-consumed watchman who lives in a lonely booth and slowly descends into darkness—full short.
Williams burst onto the cinema scene in Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Scene with Nicolas Cage. He is also remarkable in this 12 Years a Slave scene. Watch how Williams skilfully turns the tables on the prosecutor in The Wire.
The Brown Dog is EP’d by Steve Buscemi, Idris Elba, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. It is an Oscar-qualifying film.
Limited series, The Artist, a Gilded Age murder mystery, announces more members of their high-profile ensemble cast featuring:
Broadway legend Patti Lupone (Agatha All Along)
Hank Azaria (Ray Donovan)
Zachary Quinto (Brilliant Minds)
Clark Gregg (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.E.L.D.).
Here’s the synopsis:
An ensemble of celebrities, including Thomas Edison, Edgar Degas, and Evelyn Nesbit, gather at an eccentric tycoon's home. By night's end, the mogul is found dead, igniting a historical murder mystery.
The Artist comes from director/creator Aram Rappaport’s founded studio/streaming service The Network. Actors Mandy Patinkin, Janet McTeer, and Danny Huston round out the cast with a premiere slated for March 2025.
Tidbit:
The Morning Show’s Marcia Gay Harden is joining Game of Thrones’ stars Sophie Turner and Kit Harington in The Dreadful, a gothic horror film from director Natasha Kermani (V/H/S/85). Harden, an Academy Award winner for Pollock (2000), will star as Turner’s sinister mother-in-law who lives a solitary, harsh life on the outskirts of society. Production on The Dreadful is currently underway in England.
Armie Hammer is returning to acting in a Western, Frontier Crucible. And William H. Macy (Fargo, Magnolia, Shameless) is joining him.
FESTIVALS
Silent City Driver wins Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Here’s the official synopsis:
A 32-year-old Myagmar, who spent 14 years in prison for murder, becomes a hearse driver and navigates the solitude and injustice that haunt his tormented life. In a city rife with corruption and scandals.
The jury stated:
"This dark fairy tale from Mongolia took us by surprise. From the very first shot on, we felt the sensation of a film breaking new ground. Silent City Driver is a very stylish film, but style here is substance, the formal choices are not used to divert, but to deepen this very cinematic universe, populated by unique characters, bigger than life, but very very human.”
The use of negative space in the trailer is absurdly good.
Some other winners:
Audience Award: Pyre
Synopsis: A melancholic ballad of undying love in a dying land of the Himalayan Mountain range, a rural village loses its inhabitants to the city’s allure while an elderly couple, Padam Singh and Tulsi, live in desolate isolation.
Best Baltic Film award: Southern Chronicles
Synopsis: Shaolin Rimas, the alter ego of author Rimantas Kmita, comes of age in a Lithuanian market town. He dreams of making the star rugby team, idolizes Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme for their martial arts skills, and embarks on a romantic quest to find his perfect match.
See all the winners here.
Plus, Tallinn’s very Lynchian A Yard of Jackals clip.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Damon Alburn, the man who would go on to form the explosive cartoon band Gorillaz, had a little band in the 90's before that called Blur, and the impact they had on music was just as massive as Damon's second band.
Now, two films, a documentary, Blur: To The End, and a concert film, Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium, will further document the band's three-decade-long history and their 2023 reunion, respectively.
With a successful premier at Sheffield Fest and Greenwich Entertainment securing American distribution, we should see Blur soon.
One of their best music videos from Blur.
Blur ran so Gorillaz could swim
No definite dates just yet, though. Watch the UK trailer, a deep meditation on friendship.
A spinach contamination at the canning factory! That’s the setting for Popeye the Slayer Man. This Jaws-esque cued-up section of the trailer is hilarious.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Switzerland’s selections for Best International Feature ads EP Jessica Alba:
Queens (previously called Reinas) (Switzerland)
Premiere: Sundance, Berlin (winner: Best Feature Film Generation)
Synopsis:
Two teenage sisters are about to leave their country forever when they unexpectedly reconnect with an absent father. This relationship will both amplify and ease their pain of change.
No release date has been set.
Tidbit:
CAA has acquired North American sales rights for Feral, a colonial horror tale set in 1950s India. Directed by Nihaarika Negi, the film explores themes of identity and colonialism through magical realism. Oscar-nominated producers Ron Yerxa (Little Miss Sunshine) and Albert Berger (Little Miss Sunshine) are attached. The project is currently seeking financing and distribution partners at India’s Film Bazaar.
ON THIS DAY
1990. Stephanie Hsu (actress: Everything Everywhere All At Once), born in Torrance, California.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | X
Want to advertise with us? Email: clarke.scott@theindustry.co