Charlize Theron Goes Quiet
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
In The Industry News, we look at a big problem with Dune: Messiah and a new president at an A-lister’s production company.
Actor Spotlight sees a Best Actress Oscar winner try thier hand at a new genre, and Happy Gilmore 2 gets a Bad addition.
In Festival News, I parse why Sundance leaving Park City is tragic. And I go off on an Eyes Wide Shut remake.
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight showcases a Netflix bodyswap brainteaser. And there’s a new explicit high school film set to opera music.
Let’s go!
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Join John Cooper, former Director of Sundance, for our live event workshop on How to Get Your Film Into Sundance: https://theindustry.co/p/live-workshop-how-to-get-into-sundance
Cooper was part of the programming team for 20+ years.
If you’ve submitted for this year, this workshop will teach you what to do after submission in order to give your film the best possible chance of being selected.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Charlize Theron goes Quiet.
The actress, along with the producing partners at her new production company venture, Secret Menu, are adapting The Quiet Tenant.
Here’s the rub:
Writer, EP, Showrunner: Anthony E. Zuiker (creator: CSI)
Production Company: Blumhouse TV
Production Company: Secret Menu
CEO: Dawn Olmstead (Former CEO of Anonymous Content, President of NBCUniversal’s UCP)
Synopsis:
Aidan Thomas, a hard-working family man and beloved figure in the small upstate NY town, is a kidnapper and serial killer. He has murdered eight women and is keeping a 9th captive in his basement. This causes problems when his wife dies, and he has to move houses with his 13-year-old daughter… and the one victim he has spared.
Jason Blum stated:
“I’ve been a big fan of Anthony’s cinematic style and approach to storytelling on TV since the early days of CSI.”
Olmstead stated:
“When Jason sent us this intense, taut thriller that took such an original approach to an abduction story, we immediately said yes because it is exactly what Secret Menu was built for.”
The talent on this project is insane with each party, bringing their own twisted yet humanistic darker side to the material. I’m seeing shades of Theron’s Monster (2003) and Blum’s The Black Phone (2021).
No production date has been set.
California’s film and TV, tax credits program, announced that they would allow a total of $52 M in incentives for 18 feature films (3 big budget and 15 indies) and 1 series filming in the Golden State. These upcoming projects are expected to spend an estimated $284 M in California expenditures employing:
2,768 crew members
1,086 cast members
16,997 background performers
Here are some of the standout projects benefiting:
$2.5 M for Shailene Woodley’s Janis Joplin biopic from Temple Hill
Woodley stars and produces
30 days shoot
$10 M in qualified expenditures.
$3.3 M allocated for the highly anticipated Community - The Movie from Mesquite Productions, Inc.
While a production start date has still not been set, series creator Dan Harmon is said to be done with the screenplay.
$16.3 M in qualified expenditures.
$12 M will go towards NBC’s dramedy law spinoff Suits: LA
Its pilot was already shot in Vancouver, Canada, but to add to the show’s authenticity, it is receiving substantial funding so production can continue in LA.
100 days shot
$51 M in qualified expenditures.
For the full list of productions that are part of the Film and Television Tax Credit Program, see here.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Messiah, the third part of his imaginative and politically charged Dune series, is not a trilogy. That’s because the third film is set 12 years after the events of Dune: Part 2 ended, which saw Timothee Chalamet’s Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides rise up as the charismatic and dangerous leader.
Villeneuve stated:
“First, it’s important that people understand that for me, [the first two films] was really a diptych… It was really a pair of movies that will be the adaptation of the first book. That’s done and that’s finished. If I do a third one, which is in the writing process, it’s not like a trilogy. It’s strange to say that, but if I go back there, it’s to do something that feels different and has its own identity.”
Without giving too much away, Dune: Messiah, the second in Frank Herbert’s series, is the story of the villain Atreides, who has now caused immense horrors.
Very few $1bn+ blockbusters have successfully adapted stories of an arch villain, save perhaps for The Joker, so Villeneuve will face an uphill battle–but something we’re sure he can handle.
Dune: Messiah currently has no release date, although it may be at the end of 2026.
After watching the debate last night, it's fascinating to see The Apprentice's full trailer to understand what kind of conditions could have birthed Trump’s win-at-all-cost personality. Jeremy Strong as the slimeball Roy Cohn is perfectly dialed in like an attack dog with the look of a hawk, and Sebastian Stan as Trump displays a rare quality: a lack of confidence.
Briarcliff Entertainment (DogMan) will release on October 11th (pre-election), bolstered by a Kickstarter campaign by the filmmaking team, currently sitting at $308K and rising.
My money is on Strong getting an Oscar nomination. Explore our deep dive of his upcoming character here: https://theindustry.co/p/al-pacinos-apprentice
Jake Gyllenhaal’s co-founded Nine Stories Productions has named the very qualified Josh McLaughlin as its new President.
Gyllenhaal shared:
“We are thrilled to welcome Josh to Nine Stories as President. I greatly admire his wealth of experience and deep industry knowledge, and I look forward to working together to expand our slate of dynamic projects across film, television, and stage.”
After a decade at Focus Features, eventually becoming the President of Production, McLaughlin started his own company, Wink Pictures.
His catalog is both extensive and impressive:
Harriet (2019)
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Phantom Thread (2017)
McLaughlin will oversee several studio projects, including the recently renewed sophomore season of Apple TV+’s alluring Presumed Innocent (trailer), which dropped this past June. Gyllenhaal both stars and EPs.
Tidbits:
Gandalf is in for the Long Haul: Ian McKellen has confirmed that Andy Serkis' The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum will be split into two films, with McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf, though he has yet to read the script.
Amazon’s Lord of The Rings Season 2 has attracted 40 million viewers within 11 days of its debut, despite viewership falling by 50% compared to the first season.
There’s an irresistible Jessica Simpson doc happening. Simpson has worn many caps in the past two decades, with her newest venture a multi-part documentary.
Synopsis:
Revealing private moments, exploring the recent highs and lows of her life including personal revelations, successes, and heartbreaks that have never been shared with the public before.
The upcoming documentary reunites Simpson with Gunpowder & Sky.
Laura Checkoway (Edith+Eddie) is set to direct the Simpson doc.
Fifth Season and BBC are producing/ distributing a new doc on Giancarlo Parretti who bought MGM in 1990 for $1.2bn and nearly ran the studio into the ground, producing no films.
Here’s how The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood is described:
“An enigmatic former waiter who both beguiled and bewildered Hollywood… It’s also a story about the fame machine and money with dire consequences as the story ends with collapse of the French national bank.”
So yeah… it’s going to be a wild story. No release date has been set.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
From West Side Story Oscar to The Bear Horror. Ariana DeBose, who won the Oscar for Westside Story, stars as a chef who undergoes a psychological break in House of Spoils.
What pushes this into new territory is that when she opens her wannabe Michelin-star restaurant in the boonies, she begins having visions of her dishes rotting. In one vivid moment, a fly crawls out of her octopus risotto while it’s on a diner’s plate (trailer).
Of course, Blumhouse has a hand in this. Straight to Prime October 3rd.
Rachel Sennott's (Bottoms) new HBO show has been granted a pilot. Here’s the synopsis:
A codependent friend group reunion [where friends] navigate how their time apart, goals, and new relationships have changed them.
Sennott will star, write, and EP.
Sennott can be seen in Shiva Baby and the glorious Bottoms. In that film, her character starts, by her own definition, as:
“Gay, ugly, untalented.”
She forms a girls-only fight club to win the attention of her high school crush: a cheerleader. She rides through the body of the film with an electric charisma (trailer).
She can previously be seen in Shiva Baby.
More New Faces at The Paper: Peacock's new mockumentary series, rumored to be titled The Paper has added Melvin Gregg (American Vandal), Chelsea Frei (The Moody's), and Ramona Young (Never Have I Ever) to its cast, they will be joining previously announced co-leads Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore.
The series, co-created by The Office's Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, is set in the same universe as the hit NBC show but focuses on a dying Midwestern newspaper rather than Dunder Mifflin. The story follows a documentary crew as they capture the efforts of the newspaper’s publisher to revive it with volunteer reporters.
Peter Renaday, a prolific voice actor best known for voicing Master Splinter in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, passed away at 89. He was also known for voicing iconic Disney animatronics, including Abraham Lincoln at Walt Disney World's The Hall of Presidents. Renaday's extensive career included nearly 200 film and TV credits, spanning both voice and live-action roles, including performances in The Aristocats, The Rescuers, and The Black Cauldron, as well as appearances in live-action '60s and '70s productions.
Here is some of his work as Splinter from The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
He will be missed.
Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen's new Paramount+ eight-episode drama, JonBenét Ramsey, has a new cast:
Emily Mitchell (Ghosts) as JonBenét Ramsey
Owen Teague (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) as Jeff Shapiro
“cocky reporter
Garrett Hedlund, (Tulsa King (2022), as a detective
Alison Pill as a detective.
More about the film here: https://theindustry.co/p/oceans-14
Happy Gilmore Returns: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known better under his artist name Bad Bunny, is joining the cast of the upcoming Netflix sequel to Happy Gilmore, directed by Kyle Newacheck. The sequel brings back Adam Sandler as the titular character, along with original cast members Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald. This marks another acting role for Bad Bunny, following his competent appearances in:
Previously, we discussed his and other rappers diving into acting: Read more here.
Tidbits:
Jack Huston joins Noir's Web: Huston (Kill Your Darlings) has been cast as a series regular in Amazon’s live-action Sipder Man spin-off, Spider-Noir, alongside Nicolas Cage and other prominent actors like Brendan Gleeson and Lamorne Morris.
No pressure. The weather war movie Pressure, starring Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraiser, and Kerry Condon (Banshees of Isheraan), has kicked off production!
Jon Bernthal plays a suspicious detective in Tessa Thompson’s His & Hers.
FESTIVALS
Will Sundance’s deep roots in Utah keep it planted? That’s the bet the Utah Film Commissioner has made, pitching Salt Lake City as an alternative to Sudance’s current home, Park City, UT.
It is one of six cities that have bid to woo the festival to greener (and cheaper) pastures.
Virginia Pearce, the UT Film Commissioner, argued:
“67% of their attendees are Utah based. I would hate for them to have to start over with all of that. I think we’ve grown up together.”
They went so far as to shutter Main Street in Salt Lake City to give the Sundance brass the vibe of what it would be like. Their plan still includes having some events in Park City (Hereditary screening at The Egyptian, anyone?), but the majority would shift forty minutes away to Salt Lake.
Pearce continued:
“I mean, based on the studies we did. If they moved staff lodging, the lodging that they pay for, and moved everything to Salt Lake, they’d save over a million dollars.”
This will come as no shock to those who know me, but I hate moving, and this unplanting feels unnatural.
Have I spent too much money on Sundance Park City lodging? Yes!
Have I gotten stuck in an Uber on the wildly crowded Main Street? Newbie move, and yes!
But for all the drawbacks, there is a charming intimacy running up and down Main Street, slipping into Atticus Coffee for a meeting or a party in the Grey Goose Blue Door (if it is still called that).
The bustle is electric, all framed by mountains and crisp air (can you tell I reside in NYC?)
I, for one, will be very sad to see it move.
Would you merge for love? Toronto official selection midnight madness body horror film Else asks. The trailer is like The Substance meets the last 30 seconds of Max Max: Furiosa meets Requium for a Dream meets an Acid Trip. From the mind of Thibault Emin. The film currently has no distribution.
WELL, OK, THERE’S AN EYES WIDE SHUT REMAKE. Sorry, that’s not entirely accurate, but I worship at the Kubrick alter and am very sensitive about any derivatives of his work. Traumnovelle, based on the source material for Eyes Wide Shut, feels achingly similar. Just watch the trailer and chart all the moments that are in the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman sex Odyssey.
The film opens at The 31st Oldenburg Film Festival starting today.
No disrespect to the filmmakers, but I wish it was just a dream.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
It’s What’s Inside, which sold to Netflix for $17 M, Sundance’s biggest sale this year, gets a first trailer.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A pre-wedding party descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend shows up with a mysterious suitcase.
This midnight movie is a brainteaser. When the cast read the script, they were extremely confused (interview).
First look trailer, which is just trippy trippy trippy, but gloriously fresh.
Headed straight to Netlfix (what a shame!) on October 4th.
William Tell (TIFF Galas), directed by Nick Hamm and starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Jonathan Pryce, has just been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films for domestic distribution.
Synopsis:
A legendary 14th century warrior marksman who liberated Switzerland, becoming a folk hero for the ages.
First look image. It’s going to be a glorious mix of fire and blood.
Tidbit:
Good Girl Jane, which won the top prize at Tribeca for Best Narrative Film and Best Performance for the lead actress Rain Spencer, dropped a trailer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a high school film set to opera music. The raw energy with the unfettered sex/drug/party drive bakes over into something more twisted yet more profound.
No release date has been set.
Celebrate The Birthday's 20th Anniversary with one-night-only screenings on October 1, 2024, in select Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas nationwide.
Jordan Peele and Elijah Wood hail this apocalyptic single-location horror as masterful.
Here’s the 4K trailer.
László Nemes (dir: Son of Saul) has just wrapped his latest project, Orphan.
Official Synopsis:
A young boy after the Hungarian uprising of 1956, raised by his mother with the tale of an idealized dead father, is confronted with a brutish man who claims to be his real father.
First look image.
No word on a release date, but the shoot has just wrapped. I hope this puts him back on the international map after his stiflingly locked-in POV film Son of Saul captured the Grand Prix at Cannes.
ON THIS DAY
2015. The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, premieres at the TIFF.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.