Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Twilight Zone, Useful Idiots, and a Baby Monster.
Let’s go!
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There are NO spoilers ahead for Apple TV’s Pluribus.
Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan skewers modern interconnectedness with his new series, Pluribus.
The Apple TV sci-fi series marks a massive return to the genre for Gilligan, who served as an EP and writer on X-Files. But even though his new show involves a sci-fi element, it doesn’t quite take the shape of an X-Files episode, which is a procedural. Instead, Pluribus leans more into a Twilight Zone-esque world where a normal person is subjected to a physically or psychologically disastrous sci-fi event, which puts them in extreme duress.
Pluribus follows Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn, a smut romance author whose fawning fans hang on each lascivious morsel of her prose. Seehorn hates how popular these books have made her and the women who line up to get her autograph.
So, of course, something happens that amplifies the conformist nature of her fans to a more global level.
To me, this event speaks to the interconnectedness of modern society in the social media age and AI age. Where everyone seems connected at all moments in time. Where everyone can draw upon the vast amounts of human knowledge with a single query.
As the show portrays, this is actually poisonous to our individuality.
Apple has ordered 2 seasons of Pluribus. The first two episodes are available now.
For More:
Pluribus trailer.
Social Media that didn’t lead to the decay of humanity? Check out this euphoric thought experiment: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/what-if-we-had-fixed-social-media
Vince Gilligan is the master of creating broken heroes. Read our take: https://theindustry.co/p/vince-gilligan-and-the-art-of-broken
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Meryl Streep & Sigourney Weaver to star in Useful Idiots, financed by Black Bear.
Universal acquires Baby Monster, a family adventure spec.
AMC Networks Q3 2025 drops in revenue but gains in streaming.
Brett Goldstein’s Escorted gets straight-to-series at Prime Video.
HBO developing U.S. remake of Call My Agent! with Plan B.
WGA 2026 negotiating committee announced.
Ryan Reynolds to star and produce Amazon’s Thunderbolt & Lightfoot remake.
Netflix’s All the Sinners Bleed adds Leila George (Disclaimer).
Rory Scovel & Rachel Bloom lead ABC pilot Do You Want Kids?.
Dynasty actress Betty Harford dies at 98.
AFM highlights include two Al Pacino films and a Luc Besson movie.
Director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day) dies at 75.
Suburban Fury doc qualifies for Oscar consideration.
Peter Watkins (dir: The War Game) dies at 89.
Comcast eyes $2.1bn ITV Broadcast purchase.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Hollywood heavy hitters Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver are leading Useful Idiots, a thriller from Israeli auteur Joseph Cedar (Footnote), Fifth Season (Severance), Closer Media (The History of Sound), and financed by Black Bear.
The film follows veteran property journalist Diane Castle (Streep) as she probes a record-breaking penthouse sale, uncovering corruption and a dangerous oligarch who threatens her family.
In several roles, Streep has portrayed women uncovering hard truths, like her Oscar-winning turn as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011), navigating power’s murky depths, or in The Post (2017), exposing government secrets. Likewise, Weaver brings the same sharp resolve, as seen in Copycat (1995), where her intellect is tested by dangers too close to home.
The pairing feels tailor-made for Black Bear, whose slate of taut, prestige thrillers like I Care a Lot (2020) and Relay (2024) thrive on psychological depth and character-driven tension with great leading actors.
Useful Idiots is selling at AFM.
AMC Networks (parent company: Sundance TV and IFC Films) Q3 2025 revenue losses, compared with last year:
$562M revenue
↓ 6%
$110M ad revenue
↓ 17%
$76.5M net income
↑ 84.5%
↑ 200K subs from last quarter
10.4M total
This was the fifth quarter in a row that revenue and ad revenue declined. The bright side: streaming revenue is up 14% to $174M with AMC+’s price hike continuing to pay off. We’ve seen these price hikes across the industry as a great lever to increase top-line growth.
While originally a famous French sitcom, Call My Agent! is coming to the States with an American version in the works at HBO.
There have been several international adaptations (Turkey, India, Germany, Thailand, the U.K., and more), always set in a prestigious but chaotic talent agency; however, the American show will follow “four work-obsessed sports agents.” SNL head writer Sarah Schneider is attached to write and produce alongside Plan B.
The original series debuted in 2015, but after a resurgence on North American Netflix, its sharp satire was shown to clearly work worldwide, so an American version was beginning to feel inevitable.
Tidbits:
Universal Pictures has acquired Baby Monster, a new spec script from writer Alexis Jolly (The Belly of the Beast). Described as an “all-audience adventure,” the project will be produced by Jeff Robinov (Nosferatu) through Studio 8. Plot details remain secret. Pivoting to a live-action family angle is not a super common focus for Universal as of late, especially in a non-animated form. But a new interest could be buoyed due to the live-action How to Train Your Dragon box office success ($636.1M WW).
Sony Pictures Television and CBS resolved their year-long lawsuit over Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. An LA judge ruled in favor of Sony in its lawsuit against CBS over distribution rights for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The court found Sony lawfully terminated the agreements in August 2024 due to CBS’s unauthorized overseas licensing. Sony will assume international distribution on December 1 and domestic rights after the 2027-28 season. CBS retains ad sales through 2029-30 while Sony takes over marketing and affiliate relations in 2026.
The WGA has revealed its 2026 negotiating committee, again led by Ellen Stutzman, who guided the 2023 strike. John August (wri: Aladdin, Big Fish) and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (Survival of the Thickest) will co-chair, joined by members including Mike Schur (The Good Place) and Shawn Ryan (The Night Agent). Talks will center on AI protections, unpaid work, and healthcare amid industry contraction and new AMPTP leadership under Greg Hessinger (former SAG, AFTRA executive).
Mini Tidbits:
Lionsgate’s Michael teaser became the most viewed trailer for a music biopic ever, reaching 116.2 million views in 24 hours. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), it stars Jaafar Jackson as his uncle, with Miles Teller, Colman Domingo, and Nia Long co-starring. Aiming for an April 2026 release. Check out what all the fuss is about here.
YouTube TV will begin issuing $20 credits to customers affected by its ongoing Disney blackout, which began on October 30. Talks over carriage fees have stalled, with Disney accusing Google of underpaying and YT claiming Disney’s rates are too high. If no deal is reached, credits will be distributed by Nov 12.
Possible Renewals:
Prime UK’s The Assassin (for S2)
Deal for S2 not finalized
Trailers:
Lionsgate’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
Tarantino’s Kill Bill Pt 1 + Pt 2 + unseen footage, in one 4hr film
Release: Dec 5
Pathe’s Mektoub My Love: Canto Due
Dir: Abdellatif Kechiche (Blue Is the Warmest Color)
French release: Dec 3
Ghost Boy
Winner: SXSW Audience Award Visions
Release date:
Starz’s Outlander (S8)
Release: March 6, 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Amazon MGM Studios is developing a remake of the 1974 United Artists classic Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, with Ryan Reynolds set to star and produce through his Maximum Effort banner. Shane Reid, an editor on Deadpool & Wolverine, will make his feature directorial debut.
The original film, written and directed by Michael Cimino, starred Clint Eastwood as a seasoned thief and Jeff Bridges as his charismatic partner. It earned Bridges an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
While you might first assume Reynolds is playing the wise-talking Lightfoot, he is nearing 50, and this could be a pivot for him in the mentor role, with a younger actor stepping in. Whether this modern Hollywood adaptation will be able to keep the original’s bittersweet tone is the bigger question.
Reynolds is co-writing with Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson (Fargo, Snowfall, The Kingdom). All in all, this is a very strong team! Original trailer.
From Apple to Amazon, Brett Goldstein is taking his next big comedy step. Goldstein’s new comedy series Escorted has received a straight-to-series order from Prime Video. The eight-episode romcom will see Goldstein as a divorced dad who accidentally becomes a male escort, written and created by him under his deal with Warner Bros.
Goldstein broke out as the grumpy but lovable midfielder, Roy Kent, in Apple TV’s Ted Lasso and is now an EP and recurring character on the streamer’s dramedy Shrinking. The Goldstein, WB, and Amazon co-production is in its early stages of production.
Tidbits:
Netflix’s limited series All the Sinners Bleed adds Leila George (Apple’s Disclaimer) to join in a series regular role, as filming started last week. Based on S.A. Cosby’s western murder mystery novel (of the same name), the series is expected to drop on the streamer sometime in 2027. George was masterful as a young Cate Blanchett in Disclaimer; she carried the same cunning and effervescent mystery.
Comedian and actor Rory Scovel (You’re Cordially Invited, NBC’s Maron) is headed back to network TV in ABC’s half-hour comedy Do You Want Kids? The single-cam pilot will see Scovel’s Alex married to Rachel Bloom’s Rosie, whose lives are forever changed when they are able to see their future lives both with and without a child.
Mini Tidbits:
Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who) joins Cynthia Erivo in Warner Bros. and Locksmith’s animated musical Bad Fairies. The film follows rebellious fairies shaking up their magical world. Directed by Megan Nicole Dong, it opens May 21, 2027.
Actress Betty Harford from ABC’s Dynasty (1981-89) has died at 98 years old. On the prime-time soap opera, Harford played the wealthy and powerful Carrington family’s cook, Hilda Gunnerson, for the entirety of its nine-season run.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
AFM continues its barrage of high-profile projects. Including two starring Al Pacino, one written by Luc Besson, and another with Toni Collette and Milly Alcock:
https://theindustry.co/p/afms-double-pacino
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Lee Tamahori dies at 75. You may not know his name, but he’s directed some classic films.
He directed the last of the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, Die Another Day (2002). It’s my favorite of the Brosnan films, not so much because of the villain, but the chemistry between Brosnan and Halle Berry is explored in some supercharged action sequences.
Tamahori also directed another franchise film, xXx: State of the Union (2005).
But his best film was his first feature, Once Were Warriors (1994).
From the NY Times review:
“Offers social realism with a savage kick… left floundering in an inhospitable urban world.”
Here’s the trailer.
It’s a work that captures a rage that predated familiar Aussie dramas like Chopper (2000) and Animal Kingdom (2010).
Maybe now they’ll release Tamahori’s film Emperor (2016) starring Adrien Brody, which was screened at Cannes but fell into some legal trouble and has gone unreleased.
Tidbit:
Distributor Argot Pictures’ award-winning doc Suburban Fury (trailer) has qualified for official Oscar consideration. The film follows Sara Jane Moore, the unsuccessful assassin of President Gerald Ford in 1975. Suburban Fury is also slated for a limited theatrical release December 12th-18th.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Never afraid to push a boundary, British filmmaker Peter Watkins has passed away. His prolific, Oscar-winning pseudo-documentary The War Game (1965), a chilling anti-war film that depicted the brutal aftermath of a nuclear attack on Britain, while controversial, remains the defining work of his radical career. He’ll be remembered for his fearless commitment to truth and provocative storytelling.
Italian director Margherita Ferri’s (The Boy With Pink Pants) next film is the genre-bending Piercing. It has a pretty bizarre premise: a trio of friends discover that a lip piercing grants them powers. Shooting begins today.
Comcast is looking to purchase ITV Broadcast (through its subsidiary, Sky). The deal would be worth $2.1bn. And although we’re a ways out from a formal offer being made, Comcast did purchase Sky back in 2018 for $39bn.
ON THIS DAY
1990. Home Alone premieres in Chicago.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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The streaming growth is really intresting for AMC Networks given the traditional revenue drops. That 14% increase from price hikes shows they're focusing on the right levers. Five quarters of declining revenue but the subscriber additions are actually promising.