Darren Aronofsky and the Devil’s Kiss
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Darren Aronofsky, Daniel Craig, and an Accident.
Let’s go!
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Darren Aronofsky is at the precipice of AI filmmaking.
He has teamed with Google on their latest AI generative filmmaking model, Veo 3, which boasts an impressive and frightening suite of updates:
Character consistency between AI renders
Camera controls to add specific shot movement (see above)
Generative sound to accompany video
The resulting AI model has the potential for magic. And Aronofsky, along with director Eliza McNitt, have created a short film that blends live action with AI-generated animated elements that no camera could possibly film.
McNitt stated:
“To me [Veo] is another lens by which I get to imagine the universe.”
But for right now, there are limitations and large concerns.
The video Veo 3 generates is incapable of rendering realistic looking people (example photo). In fact, the closer Google gets to generating human-looking characters, the less human and more unsettling they appear, a response known as the psychological phenomenon the uncanny valley.
The true threat of this technology, though, is that it dulls narrative storytelling ability because it will never push back on an idea or challenge you to think more critically. It will never put limitations on you, and this stifles creative intuition.
AI substitutes speed for analysis, as one of the Google filmmakers stated in his testimonial video:
“Bring weird ideas to life instantly.”
Of course, the tools are only as good as the filmmakers, like the McNitt and Aaronofsky collaboration. Also, Brady Corbet demonstrated a positive use case when an AI tool was used during the editing of The Brutalist to tweak Adrien Brody’s Hungarian dialogue, which sparked a controversy.
But what about young filmmakers?
AI tech allows them to outsource their imagination, thereby bypassing pure intuition, to lean on an AI before they learn to develop their own aesthetic interests. And we should all be frightened by this.
As we move forward, we must keep in mind that filmmaking is a collaborative and deeply human endeavor, and the AI tech should only be used as a tool and not a substitute for the filmmaking process.
For More:
Want to see what Aronofsky is brewing with his new company, Primordial Soup, and Google? Here’s a teaser. DON’T JUST WATCH the Aronofsky bit, watch the full 5-minute clip where you can see a normal use case for the tech. Bottom line, Google is overselling this.
Google’s latest example of AI’s filmmaking looks like nothing more than a video game trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Mattel is developing a Whac-A-Mole movie with TriStar.
Warner Bros. Discovery downgraded to junk status by S&P.
Netflix is developing a Clash of Clans animated series.
Yellowjackets renewed for Season 4.
Carey Mulligan is in talks for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movie.
Meg Ryan and Rashida Jones join Lena Dunham’s Good Sex at Netflix.
Cillian Murphy & Daniel Craig are in talks for Damien Chazelle’s next film.
Cheers star George Wendt dies at 76.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Cristin Milioti are in talks for A24’s The Backrooms.
Taran Killam to lead NBC football comedy pil Stumble.
Samuel Goldwyn acquires Tin Soldier starring Robert De Niro & Jamie Foxx.
Joint Ventures buys Sundance winner Two Women.
Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) will direct the survival thriller Resurface.
Jafar Panahi returns to Cannes with It Was Just an Accident.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Come on, guys, what are we doing? Mattel continues to try to find workable IP for the next billion-dollar hit. One of the most recent of the reported FORTY in development is Whac-A-Mole.
What can I say about the plot in this? You use a mallet to hit a mole that pops out of a hole.
Mattel and TriStar Pictures are teaming up to develop a hybrid live-action/animated film based on the game that is such a timeless arcade and carnival classic that I didn't even know Mattel owned the brand.
In the logline there are buzz words like a “chaotic, reflex-driven experience”, and “fast-paced energy to life as a comedic action adventure”. But really, Tri-Star is going to spend millions to create lore for a game that is just about hitting things that come out of holes.
Mattel struck big with Barbie, and He-Man at least looks funny, but with this Hungry Hungry Hippos, the View-Master Movie (???), and plenty of others on the way, Mattel is going wide, but will it go far?
Warner Bros. Discovery’s outlook has been downgraded to negative by S&P to BB+, e.g., junk bond status.
Key points that motivated their decision:
Linear TV’s declining revenue and cash flow hurt WBD’s operating performance, with EBITDA expected to decline by 20%
WBD will not be able to reduce its debt-to-earnings ratio (leverage) by 3.5x until 2027
S&P doesn’t want WBD to sell assets to reduce its $40bn; instead, it wants it to focus on streaming.
S&P stated:
“WBD’s total advertising and distribution performance has lagged peers due to its higher exposure to general entertainment content, weaker portfolio of domestic sports rights… and a smaller base of ad-supported streaming subscribers,”
They’re the lowest of all the studio's credit ratings, besides Lions Gate Entertainment sitting at a B.
Tidbits:
Netflix is developing an animated Clash of Clans series, considered by some as the ultimate phone game. Directed by Fletcher Moules and produced by Ron Weiner (Silicon Valley, 30 Rock), the show follows a Barbarian leader navigating absurd battlefield politics. The game has its share of funny and surprisingly well-made ads that you could see translating to a series. Clip.
Sony Pictures Animation promotes Damien De Froberville to president alongside current president Kristine Belson. Since 2023, when he was hired, he has served as executive VP of production and operating strategy and will now oversee the animation division’s extensive future slate, like Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and Stephen Curry’s sports comedy GOAT.
Doubling Down on Dora: Nickelodeon and Paramount+ announce Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado, a new live-action film starring Samantha Lorraine as Dora. The adventure follows her quest for an ancient Amazonian treasure. Premiering July 2, 2025.
Renewals:
Yellowjackets (for Season 4).
New Trailers:
Hulu’s Predator: Killer of Killers
Dir: Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) Dan Trachtenberg
Release Date: June 6
FX’s The Bear – Season 4
Stars: Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Jamie Lee Curtis
Release Date: June 25
Universal’s Jurassic World: Rebirth
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali
Release Date: July 2, 2025
HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry
Star: Bill Skarsgård
Release Date: Fall 2025
Disney’s Zootopia 2
Release Date: November 26
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Carey Mulligan is a character actress through and through.
The Promising Young Woman star is in talks to join Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated Narnia adaptation with Netflix. Based specifically on the sixth novel of the series, The Magician’s Nephew. If the deal goes through, Mulligan will play the sickly mother of Digory, one of the kids in the adventure.
It’s not the first time she has embodied a character caught between the worlds of illness and imagination.
While not a traditional fantasy film, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (2013, scene) blends elements of surrealism, opulence, and visual spectacle with Mulligan playing the heart of Gatsby’s fantasies, Daisy Buchanan. The role blends romance and love with tragedy, a character often described as sick, not literally but metaphorically, from her disillusionment with life.
Despite being made with and for the streamer, the adaptation will be getting a two-week theatrical IMAX run beginning Thanksgiving weekend 2026.
Cillian Murphy and Daniel Craig are back in the trenches. Both very accomplished actors in their own right, one might be surprised that these two only shared the screen once in the critically panned The Trench (trailer)… until now. They are both in talks to star in Damien Chazelle's next film.
An untitled project that is rumored to take place inside a prison. This is Chazelle's next shot after his love letter to old Hollywood, Babylon, which bombed at the box office (but was a massive hit in France). It isn't surprising that Chazelle is drawing on firepower with these two leading men. Both actors are in some ways on opposite paths.
Murphy finally gets direct spotlight after Oppenheimer and Craig stepping back from the major Bond franchise and doing something a bit more intimate and indie (Queer).
This could end up being another Oscar winner or could be a death knell, a gamble, but possibly something worth going in on.
Tidbits:
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Cristin Milioti no exit. The pair is in talks to star in the sci-fi horror film The Backrooms from A24. No word on plot or character details, but it’s based on the YouTube series of the same name, which has gotten 187M views. It centers on filmmakers who fall into a liminal yellow warehouse/office-type space where they encounter strange beings (video playlist).
Even more Good Sex, Lena Dunham’s upcoming Netflix rom-com, adds Meg Ryan and Rashida Jones. They join stars Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo. Portman, a couple’s therapist reentering the dating scene, will be joined by Ryan as a mentor and Jones as her best friend. Lena Dunham's Girls captured a very specific coming of age, so it will be interesting to see how she deals with the middle of it.
Ahead of its second season, Netflix’s live-action series Avatar: The Last Airbender (trailer) has added seven actors to its cast:
Dichen Lachman (Severance)
Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness)
Terry Chen (Lucky Star)
Lily Gao (Blue Sun Palace)
Madison Hu (The Brothers Sun)
Netflix has also announced two cast additions that won’t be making an appearance until its third season:
Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Jon Jon Briones (Hadestown)
Production on Season 2 has officially wrapped, with Season 3 beginning very soon.
Known by his quick one-liners, love of beer, and his comfy corner barstool, George Wendt, the actor behind series regular Norm Peterson from NBC’s Cheers, has died at 76. After 11 seasons, the six-time Emmy-nominated actor would star in films like The Little Rascals (1994) and Man of the House (1995). Cheers’ stars Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman are among many who have paid tribute. Norm!!
Taran Killam (SNL) plays a lovable buffoon of a football coach in the NBC pilot Stumble.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Brad Furman’s (dir: Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer) Tin Soldier, starring Robert De Niro and Jamie Foxx, has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Here’s the synopsis:
The Bokushi cult (led by Foxx) offers a program for US combat veterans seeking their "purpose" and path forward. Now the Government (De Niro) is concerned with the rapid rise of this well-armed, highly trained, and eternally devoted Shinjas in the cult-like "Program."
Furman is fascinated by the nefarious ways in which government officers blur morality.
Previously, Furman directed The Infiltrator (2016), starring Bryan Cranston as a U.S. Customs agent who helped bust infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.
No word on release date.
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Writing winner, Two Women, is acquired by Joint Ventures.
At the time of the award, the Sundance jury stated:
“For its courageous exploration of female desire, its joyful and comedic tone, and its fearless, complex characters with awakened sexuality — this film exudes freshness, rhythmic editing, and impossible wit.”
The new company, Joint Ventures, is led by Vinay Singh, who kicked off his career as an assistant for producers Ted Hope and Anne Carey and later went on to become CEO of Archer Gray (prod co: Nightbitch, The Diary of a Teenage Girl).
Releasing in theaters later this year.
Tidbit:
Best known for his female-led comedies, director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) is switching things up; he is set to direct the survival thriller Resurface. He will direct from a screenplay fittingly by Pete Bridges (Deep Water), with the film following two stranded survivors who are in a desperate race against time after an underwater earthquake disrupts their research mission. The Forte Corp Pictures project is hoping to be sold at the ongoing Cannes market.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS / FESTIVALS
Acclaimed Iranian film auteur Jafar Panahi is making a major return to festivals with his newest film, It Was Just an Accident, a considerable Palme d’Or contender.
Unable to attend his last premiere in Venice for No Bears (2023, trailer), due to his detainment by Iranian authorities for protesting the arrest of a fellow filmmaker, this time around, he is now free.
It Was Just an Accident tells a story set in a futuristic, more peaceful Iran, garnering attention not just for its creativity but also for the conditions under which it was made, with Panahi drawing on his near seven-month imprisonment for inspiration, fueling the narrative with both rage and resistance. Panahi has consistently been an influential figure regarding the topic of censorship and the innate selfishness of humankind, who struggle to empathise with the dispossessed or neglected, which are themes often highlighted in his films.
Prior to his arrest he became a staple in arthouse cinema, even beyond Iran, with his debut film The White Balloon (1995, trailer), a social realist coming of age story, winning Cannes’ Camera d’Or and his humanitarian drama The Circle (2000) honored with Venice's The Golden Lion for best film.
MK2 Films is handling world sales for A Simple Accident at Cannes.
Mini Tidbits:
Daytime TV is seeing changes with ITV Studios cutting 220 jobs (over half its employees) to invest more into strictly streaming-friendly content. Shows like Loose Women and Lorraine, for example, will see their runtimes and broadcasting schedules cut in half beginning in January 2026.
The BBC drama Mr Loverman has tapped Sony Pictures Television for rights in North America. Led by Line of Duty actor Lennie James, Brit Box will drop two episodes per week beginning on Jun. 4th in the US and Canada.
The President’s Cake (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) has been sold to six territories, including Italy.
Cannes Acid 2025 film, Drunken Noodle, has been sold to three territories, including France.
ON THIS DAY
1990. David Lynch’s Wild at Heart wins the Palme d'Or.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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