Canada’s Wes Anderson
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Jason Statham, Warner Bros., and an Ostrich.
Let’s go!
To our readers in LA being affected by the fires, our heart goes out to you. Please stay safe.
Universal Language, Canada's official Oscar Entry, is wonderfully absurd.
The film is its own universe of cinematic styles, part Wes Anderson, part A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, and part Ozu's Late Spring. But never once does it feel incohesive due to the sharp direction.
I sat down with the director, Matthew Rankin, who was a delightful mix of cerebral and boisterous.
He shared that Universal Language runs the gamut from ridiculous to sublime:
“[The film] is working through different points of the compass… moving between great solitude, great community, great distance, and great proximity.”
This is wonderfully played out during the exit interview scene, which takes place in a Quebec Government office where a boss tells his employee (played by Rankin) that when he leaves, he can only speak “positively” or “neutrally” about the company. No other option is allowed. Meanwhile, in a single cubicle on the other side of the room, a man can be seen weeping.
It’s this wonderfully absurdist humor that makes the film profoundly silly. Later scenes involving a turkey stealing a child’s glasses, a Kleenex shop filled with nothing but carefully columned Kleenex boxes, and the glorious line:
“My wife was flattened in a steamrolling incident.”
Rankin’s fascination with uniting artifice shines through every flourish. He shared:
“That’s something cinema can do, which politics can’t do, which even the internet can’t do clearly, is this sort of strange connection that can create proximity between spaces, between which we might imagine great distance, right?”
Universal Language is an ode to the profound nature of uniting all flavors of people, laced with Rankin’s comedic touch and anchored by a warm, human core. Its playful surrealism, sharp commentary, and heartfelt cinematic artistry converge to celebrate the wisdom and folly that unite us all.
For More:
Universal Language trailer. Gobble gobble.
Dune director Denis Villeneuve waxes poetic about why Universal Language is one of his favorite films of the year, in an interview with the director.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Director David Ayer re-teams with Jason Statham for Amazon MGM’s A Working Man.
More postponements due to the LA wildfires, including the ASC awards and the Severence season 2 premiere.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s $8.5 bn studio complex plan in Nevada faces setbacks.
Wicked has made $70 M in PVOD, a record.
SpinCo, the spinoff entity of Comcast/NBCUniversal’s mid-level cable networks, announces its newly appointed executives.
Alec Baldwin sues NM over their mishandling of the Rust case.
Apple is bringing Severance season 1 to Roku.
Paramount's The Running Man casts Colman Domingo as the game show's host.
Namir Smallwood stars in Rounding, which premiered at Tribeca in 2022 and is being released by Music Box Films genre label Doppelgänger.
Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann (The Hound) will replace the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka season 2.
One of our favorite Bulgarian filmmakers, Stephan Komandarev, was selected for the Berlinale Directors projects.
Rotterdam kicks off the world premiere of First Person Plural which paints a lush dreamscape of haunting masked figures.
Payal Kapadia (Dir: All We Imagine as Light) is in development on two full-length feature films that will also be set in Mumbai.
Korean historical thriller Harbin is taking the world by storm.
Click here to learn more about the film.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
David Ayer re-teams with Jason Statham for Amazon MGM’s A Working Man. The director-actor duo recently released The Beekeeper (2024), a $40 M mid-budget action movie that pulled in $152.7 M at the box office and got strong reviews.
Now, they’re hoping to do it again with a similar template. In A Working Man, just like in The Beekeeper, Statham has found peace from his violent past but is called back into action when a member of his “new family” [that line is used in both films] is harmed.
In The Beekeeper, it was his elderly neighbor who got online scammed and committed suicide. In A Working Man, his boss's daughter gets human trafficked.
Is this all a bit lazy? Yes, but it’s actually nice to see an action film with a bit of a non-violent first act set up (the zenith of this model is John Wick 1) before the protagonist goes all Rambo. A Working Man trailer delivers on both fronts.
We hope this does well when it drops in theatres on March 28th.
More closures due to the LA wildfires:
American Society of Cinematographers awards
Postponed 1.9 → 1.13
Canceled Premiere
Apple TV+’s Severance Season 2
Get a full list of the event cancellations here.
Mini Tidbits:
Warner Bros. Discovery’s $8.5 bn studio complex plan in Nevada faces setbacks as it ends its partnership with Birtcher Development. Originally announced last August, it appears something happened, and now WB is searching for new partners and praying for Nevada's film incentives to come through.
Jon M. Chu’s Wicked landed in homes on the last day of 2024 and has made $70 M in Premium VOD sales, the most successful of all time. This beats out 2023’s Super Mario Bros., which previously held the record for the biggest PVOD release, earning $44 M. Wicked is also the highest-grossing Broadway musical movie of all time.
The spinoff entity of Comcast/NBCUniversal’s mid-level cable networks, “SpinCo”, is beginning to announce their newly appointed executives. Val Boreland, who currently serves as NBCU’s head of TV and streaming acquisitions, will act as Head of Entertainment. You can see the rest of SpinCo’s new executive board here.
Alec Baldwin, cleared of legal jeopardy over the involuntary manslaughter of DP Halyna Hutchins, has sued New Mexico over “malicious prosecution.” Read more about the lawsuit here.
Apple is bringing Severance season 1 to Roku until January 19th in a special fan event, partially to hype up its soon-to-arrive second season and partially to cash in on Roku's reported 90 Million monthly users. Severance season 2 debuts on Apple TV+ on January 17th.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Paramount's The Running Man, directed by Edgar Wright, casts Colman Domingo as the game show's host. Previous cast includes Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, and others. Based on Stephen King's 1982 novel where in the future, contestants on a gameshow compete in a bloody battle to the death. Domingo has the charm and charisma (see Sing Sing!) to send hopeful contestants to their deaths, and while it appears this interpretation will be a smaller role to step aside for Brolin’s executive acting as the main villain, Domingo will have plenty of scenery to chew, much like the part’s originator Richard Dawson.
The Running Man arrives in theatres November 7, 2025.
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Namir Smallwood’s mirror of fear. Smallwood, who had small roles in American Rust and Power Book IV: Force, excels in Rounding. The film, which premiered at Tribeca in 2022, is being released by Music Box Films genre label Doppelgänger.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A driven young medical resident transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. There, the demons of his past start to catch up to him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient.
Watching Smallwood in Rounding is like peeling back layers of nightmares (trailer). It’s entrancing to see how he slowly self-destructs.
Rounding will open theatrically and digitally on Feb 14th.
Tidbit:
Emma Thompson has joined Hear Me Roar, a drama about a pivotal British trans marriage case. Co-written by Lisa McMullin and Ashley Bayston and directed by Amy Coop, the film tells the story of Elizabeth Bellinger's 2000 legal battle for marriage recognition. Thompson has recently praised the script as deeply moving, powerful, and essential. Hear Me Roar begins filming this year.
Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann (The Hound) will replace the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka Season 2. Stevenson sadly passed away before season 1 aired and didn't get to see the acclaim his nuanced antagonist received. Clip.
McCann, famous for playing Game of Thrones Mercenary turned teacher The Hound showed an aptitude to live in the morally grey, much like Baylan Skoll does in season 1, neither a Jedi nor a Sith. McCann seems like an excellent choice in light of the tragic news. Asokha season 2 is currently in preproduction.
Mini tidbit:
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy, the star of 28 Days Later (2002), will not appear in 28 Years Later (dir: Danny Boyle).
Click here to learn more about the film.
FESTIVALS
One of our favorite Bulgarian filmmakers, Stephan Komandarev, was one of three directors selected for the Berlinale Directors projects. His new film is The Block Universe (Bul-Ger). No official synopsis as of yet, but we really dug his previous film Blaga’s Lessons (2023), Bulgaria’s Oscar entry for International Film, part of Komandarev's trilogy on Bulgaria’s post-communist social issues. The trailer plays like a bit of an octogenarian Bulgarian John Wick.
Berline selected 35 co-productions for their market. Here’s the full list.
Rotterdam kicks off on Jan 30th. One of the world premieres has dropped a trailer that is nothing short of astounding.
First Person Plural paints a lush dreamscape of haunting masked figures and long-lensed poetic shots of people against magnificent backdrops. It all adds up to the most unique trailer I’ve seen all week.
Synopsis:
A couple's tropical getaway for their 20th anniversary takes an unsettling turn when vaccine side effects cause strange symptoms. As they prepare to leave their son behind, an eerie atmosphere develops, threatening their relationships.
Full list of Rotterdam films here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The world is learning Payal Kapadia’s name! The rising Indian director is in development on two full-length feature films that will also be set in Mumbai, India, similar to the absolutely beautiful All We Imagine as Light, Kapadia’s acclaimed fictional directorial debut that premiered at last year’s Cannes festival. This past weekend on the Golden Globes carpet, Kapadia mentioned how she has already begun writing her next film, saying:
“I started writing my next movie and it’s also going to be a film in Mumbai (formerly called Bombay). It’s a bit early, but I’m thinking about doing two more films in Bombay, and to have this kind of trilogy.”
The Cannes Grand Prix-winning realist drama explores the complexities of immigrant life in Mumbai through the eyes of three very different women in a bittersweet and magical story. All We Imagine as Light is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar in India with Hindi-language subtitles.
Tidbits:
Korean historical thriller Harbin is taking the world by storm. Led by Netflix’s Crash Landing on You (2019) star, Hyun Bin, the film has been acquired for distribution in 117 countries, including all over Europe and Asia. The film (Harbin trailer) premiered at TIFF back in September, and since its Dec. 24th release in South Korea, it has grossed over $25 M in the box office.
ON THIS DAY
1927. Fritz Lang's Metropolis premieres in Berlin.
That’s all for the week. See you Monday!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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