Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Charlie Kaufman. Idris Elba. Sabrina Carpenter.
Let’s go!
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Final Call Workshop: How to Start a Production Company With an A-List Actor.
I sat down to interview Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) on his latest film, How to Shoot a Ghost, a short starring Jessie Buckley that premiered at Venice.
The film is stylistically very different than Kaufman’s previous work. It’s written by the poet Eva H.D. (who we also interviewed) and opens with a quote from Toni Morrison:
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough.”
There’s a paradox to opening a film with a quote that’s anti-photography. But it draws our attention to the ways in which image-making and imagery are used in the film.
At the start, Jessie Buckley’s character destroys the photographic record of her life and then dies. An apt metaphor for our digital age. Later, as a ghost, she spends most of the movie photographing Athens. Much of what she captures is imagery of Athens in times of duress. Ghosts from an ancient Athenian plague, a WW2 invasion, etc.
Simply, she moves from rejecting imagery as a mirror to using it as a window.
Eva explained this dichotomy:
“You don’t need to hoard your experience and make a record of it. We’re surrounded by records, these flimsy little shitty pictures and it doesn’t seem to help us make choices that have to do with any kind of honest relationship with the truth.”
Kaufman called these “ghost images,” a metaphor for our hollow gaze. Whether that means watching imagery of atrocities on TV, or snapping a disposable selfie.
How to Shoot a Ghost will be available on Kanopy in the spring.
For More:
Full interview with Charlie Kaufman. We cover magic tricks that make us happy, Irish Spring Soap, and the poem Ozymandias: https://theindustry.co/p/interview-with-charlie-kaufman-and
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Phil Johnston (Zootopia) will write Sony’s live-action View-Master film for Mattel.
Sabrina Carpenter to star and produce Universal’s Alice in Wonderland musical.
Amazon MGM lands Rebecca Yarros’s The Last Letter adaptation from Imagine Entertainment.
Jennifer Dodge named President of Paramount Animation.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine creators return with new NBC private investigators pilot.
Amazon Prime reports 315M viewers globally.
FX renews Alien Earth for Season 2. Creator Noah Hawley signs 9-figure deal.
Japanese screen legend Tatsuya Nakadai (Ran) passes away at 92.
Idris Elba returns for new Netflix Luther film.
Ed Helms stars in The English Tutor, a dramatic spy thriller.
Tom Hollander joins Dune: Prophecy Season 2.
Steve Buscemi guest stars on Elsbeth Season 3.
Oscar-nominee Sally Kirkland (Anna) dies at 84.
AFM kicks off with The Mark (Jessica Alba), Reenactment (Ana de Armas, Benicio del Toro), and The Magic Faraway Tree (Andrew Garfield).
Watermelon Pictures acquires the doc Shoot the People.
Documentary Whelp about French Bulldog breeders launches on Tubi.
Wagner Entertainment and Killer Films partner for three film slate.
Vertical acquires Stone Creek Killer for limited theatrical release.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Phil Johnston (writer: Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph) will write Sony’s live-action View-Master film, inspired by Mattel’s novelty View-Master toy.
Described as a “four-quadrant family adventure,” the movie is produced by Robbie Brenner for Mattel and Todd Black’s Escape Artists.
Out of all of Mattel’s 40+ projects in development, the potential hook for this one is kind of confounding. With Hungry Hungry Hippos, you kind of get what’s in the tin, but View Master is a bit more esoteric. Could it play on Johnston’s Wreck-It Ralph world within a world sensibilities? If anyone can pull it off, it’s probably Johnston.
I’m working late… cause I’m a producer? Pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter is set to star and produce an Alice in Wonderland-based movie musical with Universal.
Hustlers’ writer-director Lorene Scafaria is directing the film, with Wicked producer Marc Platt also attached.
Described as a “lifelong passion project” for the Espresso singer, it is unclear yet what her exact role will be in the now second live-action adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic story (following Tim Burton’s $1bn grossing take). Guess Carpenter’s Disney days aren’t over just yet.
Tidbits:
This isn’t the first time Fourth Wing author Rebecca Yarros has sparked a bidding war. Amazon MGM has landed the movie rights to The Last Letter, a romance novel and one of Yarros’s earliest books. Journalist Anna Klassen (The Last Sunrise) is attached to write the adaptation described as a mix of The Notebook (2004) and Dear John (2010), with Imagine Entertainment in talks to produce.
Jennifer Dodge, formerly of Spin Master Entertainment (PAW Patrol), has been named president of Paramount Animation, effective Jan. 5. She succeeds Ramsey Naito following Paramount’s merger with Skydance. Dodge will oversee development through the release of films including The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, and Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.
Not long after ITV’s Tomorrow Studios acquired the rights, producer Cheo Hodari Coker is set to adapt Don’t Let the Devil Ride, the thriller novel by Ace Atkins. Coker most notably created Netflix’s Marvel series Luke Cage, with his new project (sort of Gone Girl in reverse) follows a woman who uncovers dark truths about her husband after his mysterious disappearance. The novel marks the latest adaptation from Tomorrow, whose manga series One Piece was recently renewed by Netflix.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creators Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici are back with a new single-camera sitcom given a pilot order from NBC. Not too different from their previous series, the untitled project is a workplace comedy set in the world of private investigators.
Amazon Prime has now reached 315M viewers. That number is self-reported.
Renewals:
FX’s Alien Earth (for S2)
Creator Noah Hawley signs a new deal with FX (9-figures)
Production kicks off next year in London
Trailers:
Pixar’s Toy Story 5
Release: June 2026
Charlie the Wonderdog (animated)
Voice Cast: Owen Wilson
Release: Jan 16, 2026
A24’s Marty Supreme
Release: Dec 25
Prime’s Merv
Cast: Zooey Deschanel
Release: Dec 10
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
One of Japan’s greatest actors, Tatsuya Nakadai, has sadly passed away at 92, leaving behind a seven-decade spanning career and an indelible mark on cinema worldwide.
Prolific on the stage and the screen, the actor starred in over 100 films, like (most notably) Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) (even if it was for just 3 seconds), and shortly after in the post-WWII humanist dramas The Human Condition trilogy (1959 to 1961) from director Masaki Kobayashi.
He’s best known from the Oscar-nominated Ran (1985, scene), where Nakadai played warlord Hidetora, both a tyrant and a tragic figure in Akira Kurosawa’s hauntingly epic take on Shakespeare’s King Lear. A poetic but shocking performance of succumbing to your fate, the role cemented Nakadai’s global stature, introducing his strong presence to audiences far beyond Japan.
From samurai epics to intimate dramas, Nakadai had a palpable gravitas, versatility, and intensity that made every role feel truly alive. He’ll be remembered not just for his expressive performances but his impact and influence on movies everywhere.
Idris Elba is back for another Luther movie for Netflix. It’s no surprise that the first film, Luther: The Fallen Sun, notched 209M views in the first 6 months of its release in 2023 (#2 film on Netflix).
The series premiered in 2010, and over the course of 15 years, Elba has transformed the character from a morally ambiguous detective to a more mythical anti-hero with hard James Bond tendencies. The new film sees him brought back into the fold to save London from a string of murders. Yet everyone in the city wants him dead.
Elba has a flexibility where he can move from stoic to tragic to fighter in a single shift of his expression.
Shooting kicks off in February. Ruth Wilson also joins the cast.
Ed Helms (The Hangover, The Office) is set to take on an unusually dramatic role in The English Tutor, a character-driven spy thriller directed by Gaz Alazraki (Father of the Bride).
Written by Michael LeSieur (I Work at Macy’s), the film is set in Mexico City and will explore themes of espionage and identity. Often in comedies, even when playing the straight man, Helms is usually the butt of a joke, but this marks a shift for Helms, who is also producing.
At 51 and most likely noticing comedy’s virtual lack of theatrical presence as of late, perhaps Helms is hoping this shift to a more serious tone could lead to a new career pivot and exciting new horizons. I just sadly see all the dumb, inevitable YouTube comments about Andy from The Office being a spy already…
Dune: Prophecy Season 2 adds Tom Hollander (The White Lotus, The Night Manager). Set 10,000 years before Dune, the prequel follows two Harkonnen sisters founding the Bene Gesserit. Tom Hollander is an interesting choice, more known for drama and British period pieces and more recently, his dry wit in White Lotus, at first, it’s a bit tough to imagine him on the sandy dunes of Arrakis, but with season 2 promising politics and posturing, he could dig in to his Pride and Prejudice days and end up fitting in quite nicely.
Apple TV’s Bad Monkey Season 2 has added:
Brent Morin (Merry Happy Whatever)
Peter Billingsley (Iron Man)
June Diane Raphael (Weapons)
All 3 will have recurring roles. Season 2 features an original story following ex-cop turned health inspector Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn) as he navigates new chaos in the Florida Keys.
Tidbit:
Steve Buscemi joins the third season of CBS’s Elsbeth as the newest guest star. The Fargo actor will play an obsessive perfectionist and five-time crossword champion, bringing his signature quirkiness and delightfully eccentric charm to the procedural’s next mystery.
Lauren Morais (The Red King) and Diane Morgan (Motherland) have joined VisionQuest, Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series starring Paul Bettany as Vision. The show follows Vision’s search to regain his memory and humanity after Avengers: Infinity War.
Caity, an indie drama about a teen managing her father’s sobriety while running their haunted house. Adds 6 to its ensemble cast, including Zach Cherry (Severance). This will be Lindsay Calleran’s feature directorial debut.
Lana Condor (To All the Boys) will star in Whodunnit, a romantic comedy from director Nora Kirkpatrick (A Tree Fell in the Woods) for BuzzFeed Studios. It follows a woman redefining life after a failed proposal. Filming in Oregon.
Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi (The Kite Runner) has died at 78. Discovered by Abbas Kiarostami for Taste of Cherry (1997), Ershadi became an international name with Marc Forster’s The Kite Runner (2007). His career included Agora, Zero Dark Thirty, and Utopia, earning over 90 credits in three decades.
Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning Sally Kirkland (Anna) has passed away at 84. A film and theater actress, Kirkland notably shared the screen with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting (1973, trailer) as a burlesque dancer and the latter’s girlfriend, Crystal.
Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have signed a deal with ElevenLabs to create an AI clone of their voices. Details here: https://theindustry.co/p/a-fake-james-dean
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
AFM has started, and the sales are rolling in. Six films have closed sales, including one starring Andrew Garfield. Plus new projects starring Ana De Armas, Benicio del Toro, Cameron Diaz, and Geoffrey Rush:
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
New York City-based Incline Studios has released its debut feature, Whelp, a French Bulldog documentary that follows a family of breeders amid global controversy as the breed continues to skyrocket in popularity and price.
Directed by Michael Christensen and produced by Benjamin J Murray, Whelp is now streaming on Tubi, with additional platform releases to follow.
Incline is currently developing and producing a slate of narrative feature films set for production in 2026. Watch this space.
Wagner Entertainment (Lone Wolf) and Killer Films (Past Lives) are joining forces to champion a new generation of filmmakers, including screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s daughter…
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