Coke vs. Steven Spielberg
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
In The Industry News, we look at Steven Spielberg in the middle of the Coke vs. Pepsi war. And we run the numbers on Ice Age 6; could it top $900 M?
Actor Spotlight Steven Ogg is walking dead into a movie theater. Plus, a Mission: Impossible villain’s big score.
In Festival News, Sundance is making a big domestic move while Tribeca Film Festival is going…
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight, a Venice Prize winner’s new distribution is a beast. And Morgan Freeman gets pushed.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Michael B. Jordan (Creed) is taking a step away from the boxing ring for his sophomore directorial debut with a reimagining of The Thomas Crown Affair for Amazon MGM Studios.
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While the plot has not yet been revealed, Jordan will both direct and star from a script from The Fall Guy (2024) writer Drew Pearce.
Jordan falls in a long line of cool guys that have played the titular role.
First was Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), a year when no one was cooler than him. So when he got plopped into this film as a rich bank robber, it felt like the wrong typecasting. McQueen has always exuded more of a working-class type, and the film was more about intellectual chess (which he and Faye Dunaway play) than the sleek stunts we were used to in his film Bullitt (also 1968).
The second cool guy to go museum robbing was Pierce Brosnan in the 1999 version, trailer). In between Bond films (Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough) Brosnan is hyper at ease as a flashy high-roller, exuding luxary. He also rolls through the complicated tricks needed to swipe a painting from a museum at peak hours with ease. However, the film still lacks a credible dynamism in the relationship between the leads.
Perhaps Jordan can solve this, who falls in between Brosnan and McQueen in terms of exuding luxury and a working-class vibe.
Most importantly, Jordan may be able to more successfully navigate the relationship issues endemic in The Thomas Crown Affair. In his Creed films, there is a high degree of intimacy in his relationship with Tessa Thompson, a forlorn musician undergoing hearing loss (clips).
Jordan’s confident directorial debut was Creed III (2023, trailer), which earned $276 M at the worldwide box office.
He seems like a filmmaker wanting to prove himself, saying:
“I still feel like an underdog. I feel like I just got here, like I’ve just arrived and I have the tools and things around me to really be on the offensive a little bit.”
As of now, no production dates have been announced for The Thomas Crown Affair remake, although it is set for a theatrical release.
Coke or Pepsi? Judd Apatow’s new representation is crushing cans and cashing in. The director recently fired his long-time agent of 30 years and moved to WME, which has set him to direct Cola Wars, a film in development at Sony, with Steven Spielberg attached as a producer.
The movie will explore the true story of Pepsi's 1980s battle to challenge Coca-Cola’s dominance in the beverage market, known as the Cola Wars (example campaign).
It appears that this is shooting more in the vein of Nike's Air. There are not many more details on this just yet other than it will be written by Jason Shuman and Ben Queen.
For more on this war, watch Pepsi, Where’s My Jet, for a wild inside-the-henhouse look at Pepsi going a little too far to beat out Coke.
The crowning jewel of Netlfix’s many lawsuits is a $170 M defamation and negligence suit by Fiona Harvey, who inspired the character of Martha in Baby Reindeer, which will kick off in 2025.
The lawsuit alleges:
"The “This is a true story” quote from the first episode of the Netflix series Baby Reindeer is the biggest lie in television history. It is a lie told by Netflix and the show’s creator, Richard Gadd, out of greed and lust for fame; a lie designed to attract more viewers, get more attention, to make more money, and to viciously destroy the life of Plaintiff, Fiona Harvey – an innocent woman defamed by Netflix and Richard Gadd at a magnitude and scale without precedent."
Read the full complaint here.
Anarchists United’s Lilly Wachowski (dir: The Matrix) has acquired the rights to queer novel Hell Followed With Us (2022), with plans to turn it into a full-length animated feature with Trustbridge Entertainment.
Bob Higgins, the current president of Trustbridge, stated:
“Hell Followed With Us is such a visceral combination of dystopian fantasy, action, and horror that turning it into an epix anime-inspired feature was a no-brainer.”
Wachowski will, of course, be well at home with dystopian fantasy. Their series The Matrix rewrote the book on dystopia.
Ice Age 6 is happening. And it may have something to do with the insane numbers the series pulled during the end of July on streaming:
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Hours Viewed: 7,700,000
Runtime: 1:37
Views: 4,800,000
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Hours Viewed: 6,500,000
Runtime: 1:35
Views: 4,100,000
With both Ice Age films not available in the US, we’re seeing 20th Century Studios’ immense $430 M marketing budgets spent on those films across 14 years yield gains even eight years after the most recent film was released.
Here’s the breakdown of how the originals faired:
Ice Age (2002)
Budget: $59 million
Worldwide Box Office: $383.2 million
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Budget: $80 million
Worldwide Box Office: $667 million
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Budget: $90 million
Worldwide Box Office: $886.7 million
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
Budget: $95 million
Worldwide Box Office: $877.2 million
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Budget: $105 million
Worldwide Box Office: $408.5 million
20th Century Studios is wise to keep this series going.
Tidbits:
Neil Gaimon is offering to step back from Good Omens S3, which has just launched pre-produciton. The recent sexual assault allegations against Gaiman were the main factor. Recently Disney’s adaptation of The Graveyard Book (author: Neil Gaiman) has also been paused for the same reason.
Fubo's antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros will be moving ahead. A federal judge has already granted Fubo a preliminary injunction blocking the launch of the Venu Sports streaming venture, with trial proceedings possibly starting between June 2025 and February 2026, as the parties debate the timeline and scope of discovery.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Steven Ogg hates slackers: In Concessions, the Canadian actor will take his penchant for ornery characters when he plays a hardass movie theatre owner who is constantly beset upon by his slacker employees and insane patrons on the last day of The Royal Alamo Cinemas Operation.
Concussions, written and directed by Mas Bouzdi started off as a short she wrote as a freshman at NYU.
Joining a massive ensemble cast, Ogg is a familiar face and voice among various television roles such as Walking Dead, but most will probably know him as Trevor (still), the craziest of the trio of protagonists in Grand Theft Auto 5. Ogg perfectly captured Trevor's drunken rage, making him a fan favorite in the series:
Concessions was able to take its original short and crowdfund fully (with help from Kevin James) for its feature-length version.
Currently in post-production, this testament to indie fortitude, with a stacked ensemble cast including Ogg, Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Josh Hamilton, and more, will surely pop up in festivals and theaters in the coming years.
Tidbits:
Esai Morales, who recently co-starred as the delectable AI-obsessed villain in the latest Mission Impossible movie, is booking a bunch of roles:
Sci-fi action starring Dennis Quaid
Role: Commanding officers
Romantic Comedy
Producer: Cassian Elwes (Dallas Buyers Club)
No plot line or character info on So Much For Love.
Instead, remember how Morales was perfectly sinister in the opening of Ozark; in fact, he initiates the entire action of the series by causing Marty to think for his life–the clip is wild. But watch how Morales’ face doesn’t move an inch. His unreactiveness is just blissfully haunting.
Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis leads upcoming indie feature, By Design, written and directed by Please Baby Please’s (trailer, 2022) Amanda Kramer.
Kramer’s By Design, is said to be a body swap story but with a twist, that just wrapped filming in LA.
Lewis is no stranger to odd body swap films; her movie Strange Days (1995), while not a body swap film per se, allowed the characters to access their and other people’s memories by putting on a VR-like headset.
Lewis stars alongside Mamoudou Athie, who can be seen most recently in Yorgos Lanthimos’ ensemble cast for his film Kinds of Kindness (trailer), which premiered this past June.
Cory Michael Smith, fresh off strong reviews for his portrayal of Chevy Chase in Saturday Night, has joined the cast of Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value alongside Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, and Stellan Skarsgård. The film, a family drama set in Oslo, follows a renowned stage actress reconnecting with her estranged father, a former film director attempting a comeback.
FESTIVALS
Tribeca in Lisbon? Robert DeNiro is launching his famously NYC-based festival in Portugal, stating:
“Twenty-two years ago, in response to the devastation of 9/11, Jane [Rosenthal] and I founded the Tribeca Festival to help revitalize our neighborhood through the power of film, art, and storytelling. Our mission remains the same today. It means a great deal to us to bring this same spirit to Lisbon—a city with a rich cultural heritage, and a robust appetite for the arts and entertainment.”
Tribeca Lisbon will run October 17 to 19. DeNiro will be giving a talk back about Ezra (2024).
I went to the Ezra talk back in Tribeca (NYC), and DeNiro had a great deal to say about his input on the script and the editing of the film - all in all, it was fascinating.
Here’s the Tribeca Lisbon full line-up.
We’re still waiting for the TIFF winners to drop on Sunday, September 15th.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize - Vermiglio, just landed North American distribution with Sideshow and Janus Films. The film, written and directed by Maura Delpero, is set in 1944, Vermiglio, a remote mountain village. The arrival of Pietro, a deserter, into the family of the local teacher, and his love for the teacher's eldest daughter, will change the course of everyone's life.
Clip.
The distributors said:
“We were deeply moved and impressed by Vermiglio, a new Italian classic that is intimate in scale but epic in scope, unfolding like a memory over four ravishingly shot seasons during the Second World War.”
The distributing duo has a keen eye for international films, distributing the most haunting rendering of the dangers of AI in cinema thus far: Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast.
Drawn to History: The documentary Cartooning America about the Fleischer Brothers, pioneers of animation, has won the prestigious $200,000 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. The film explores the legacy of Max and Dave Fleischer, who created iconic characters like Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman. The Fleischer Brothers were groundbreaking innovators in animation, introducing techniques like mixing live action with animation, and pioneering 3D and sound cartoons.
One of the most innovative is the St. James Infirmary scene in Betty Boop, using live action footage of Cab Calloway to give the cartoon character a spooky fluid dance.
Briarcliff Entertainment is pushing My Dead Friend Zoe to a 2025 release date to make way for The Apprentice. The film was originally scheduled for a November 1st release, four days before election day. My guess is that with the rampant success of The Apprentice’s Kickstarter campaign (currently at $312 K).
My Dead Friend Zoe won the SXSW Prize Award, starring Natalie Morales (Parks and Rec) as the dead best friend, Ed Harris as an estranged grandfather, and Morgan Freeman as a VA counselor.
The film is now set for release on February 28, 2025.
Tidbit:
The beloved Olivia Colman has hired an exciting new addition, producer Lucy Barzun Donnelly, to her team over at South of the River Pictures, which the actress founded with her husband/writer Ed Sinclair. In her new position, Donnelly will oversee film development and production on and off screen. Some of the Emmy-winning producer’s credits include the Oscar nominated dramedy Pieces of April (2003) and for HBO films’ Grey Gardens (2009) with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.
ON THIS DAY
1981. The Smurfs first broadcasts in North America.
See you Friday!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.