Disney's Rise, AMC's Fall
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Disney, AMC, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Disney posts big Q1 2025 gains.
AMC Theaters’ revenue drops 10%.
Lionsgate unveils The Long Walk, a Stephen King dystopia.
Hugh Laurie leads Apple TV+ drama The Wanted Man from George Kay (creator: Hijack).
Golden Globes add Best Podcast category.
Peacock picks up Dig, a new comedy series reuniting Amy Poehler and Mike Schur.
The Beatles biopics land top screenwriters Jez Butterworth, Jack Thorne, and Peter Straughan.
Alan Ruck and Matthew Broderick reteam in buddy comedy The Best Is Yet To Come.
Cannes Acid standout Drunken Noodle blends eroticism and surrealism.
Cannes Classics adds Shia LaBeouf doc Slauson Rec to lineup.
Twelve new Cannes Market titles include Miles Teller’s possum pact and Mads Mikkelsen as a death row chef.
Solo Coen brother Ethan Coen is back with another B-movie, Honey, Don’t.
Magnolia + HBO + CNN Films acquire Sundance doc Prime Minister.
Greenwich hires Jasper Basch as Partner and Head of Distribution.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Disney Q1 2025 results. And the change from last year:
$10.68bn entertainment revenue (Disney+, Hulu + Linear)
↑ 9%
$1.26bn entertainment operating profit
↑ 61%
$2.4bn Linear revenue (ABC, FX, Nat Geo)
↓13%
126M Disney+ subs
↑1.4M from Q4 2024
45.8% US (57.8M)
54.2% International (68.2M)
50.3 M subs - Hulu
↑1.3M from Q4 2024
$336M streaming profit (not including sports)
↑ from $47M last year
After a rough couple of years for Disney, streaming is king. CEO Bob Iger emphasized on the earnings call a strategic shift toward investing in more local and regional content. He also acknowledged past mistakes of overproduction, especially at Marvel, and outlined a new “quality over quantity” approach.
With that in mind, here is Disney's upcoming slate:
Lilo & Stitch (May 23rd)
Elio (Pixar, June)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July)
Tron: Ares (October)
Zootopia 2 (November)
Avatar 3: Fire and Ash (December)
With Avengers Doomsday (Starring new Marvel darlings The Thunderbolts*) coming in 2026, along with a new Toy Story, and a new Star Wars film, you can see Disney drawing on the pillars of their strongest IPs in order to stabilize a wobbly ship.
AMC Theaters Q1 earnings. Plus, the change from last year:
$862M revenue
↓ 10%
$202M net loss
↓ 23.9%
41.9M attendance
↓ 10%
CEO Adam Aron stated that Q1 box office was an outlier because:
“The industrywide domestic box office in Q1 was in our view a distorting anomaly that has already corrected itself,”
Good news is that A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, Thunderbolts*, and the upcoming Lilo & Stitch should make for a great Q2.
The Stephen King adaptations keep coming. The Long Walk, directed by Francis Lawrence (Hunger Games series, I Am Legend) from Lionsgate, is terrifying.
Synopsis:
A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as "The Long Walk," where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.
No one does authoritarian governments pitting teens against each other in sadistic life-or-death contests quite like Lawrence. And there’s a lack of stylization to The Long Walk that we really love (trailer). No release date, but two of our favorite young actors are starring: Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) and David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus).
Hugh Laurie (House) is set to lead a new Apple TV+ drama, The Wanted Man, from creator, writer, and showrunner George Kay (Hijack).
Synopsis:
Crime boss Felix Carmichael (Laurie) lands in prison after 20 years ruling 'The Capital' syndicate. Upon discovering internal betrayal while locked up, he plots his breakout to seek vengeance and restore his criminal empire.
The House star is joined by an impressive supporting cast of Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) and Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), with the riveting eight episodes directed by acclaimed director Jakob Verbruggen (Dark Matter). There is no word yet on when the series will start production.
Tidbits:
Paperback Writer (Writer): Sam Mendes’ The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event has enlisted Jez Butterworth (Ford vs Ferrari), Peter Straughan (Conclave), and Jack Thorne (Adolescence) to script the individual biopics of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. Sony is still planning a theatrical release of all four across April 2028.
20th Century Studios picks up a short story, Ripped with Seven Bucks (Dwayne Johnson’s prod co), serving as the production company. The short follows an insecure man on his wedding day who enters an intense training facility, led by a hyped up fitness leader. No word on if Johnson will play the instructor, but come on, what a fit! The author, Joe Ballarini, will adapt his short story into a screenplay.
NBCUniversal will sell ads for its spin-off, Versant Media. The two have agreed on a two-year term, which will preserve advertising scale while minimizing short-term disruption. Versant will house multiple TV networks like MSNBC, USA, and E!
The Golden Globes adds a podcast category. Is it a money grab? Yes. But also, Hollywood, ever hungry for IP, has begun to mine podcasts for more and more opportunities. Our recent favorite? FX’s Dying for Sex starring Michelle Williams, based on Wondery’s podcast. This all kicks off at next year’s Globes, where 25 podcasts will be eligible for nominations, with 6 finalists.
Elementary Double Whammy. ABC has given a pilot order for RJ Decker from Rob Doherty (creator/showrunner: CBS’s Elementary starring Lucy Liu). The series centers on a “disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con who starts over as a private investigator.” This is familiar territory for Doherty, who also scripts the pilot, as his Elementary was a modern take on Sherlock.
Netflix is overhauling its TV homepage with a new design, TikTok-style video previews, and an OpenAI-powered chatbot that recommends shows from simple prompts. The update launches first on iOS. Video explainer.
Shaquille O’Neal is producing Power Moves, a six-part Netflix docuseries chronicling Reebok’s revival strategy, culture, and comeback. Debuting June 4.
Cancellations:
Fox’s HI-Surf (after 1 season)
Series Orders:
CBS’s Y: Marshals (Yellowstone spinoff)
CBS’s Cupertino (from The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King)
Renewals:
Prime’s Beast Games (for S2 and S3)
Fox’s Animal Control (for S4)
Fox’s Going Dutch (for S2)
Trailers:
Apple TV+’s Foundation (Season 3). Release date: July 11. Trailer.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off delinquents Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck are in negotiations to reunite in The Best Is Yet To Come.
Directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure), the film would see them as best friends who team up to find one of their missing, estranged sons. The journey also forces them to live life fully.
That dynamic is not too dissimilar to Ferris Bueller, where Ruck’s shivering, snivelling Cameron is forced out of his shell by the ultra charismatic Broderick. In fact, Ruck is the one who has the real character journey in that film (remember the trashed Ferrari?).
MRC finances, Lionsgate is in talks to distribute. Trailer for the film on which this is based.
Life moves pretty fast, and we won’t be missing this.
Another reunion?! Parks and Rec creator Mike Schur reunites with his star Amy Poehler for a new comedy series, Dig, picked up by Peacock.
The series, based on Kate Myers’ novel Excavations, follows four women at a Greek archeological site who uncover a secret that sparks an international conspiracy. Poehler and Schur will co-write and EP, with Poehler also starring in the show.
Parks and Rec took the heart and single cam shooting style of Schur's other mockumentary, The Office, but quickly ditched realism for funny. A fantastic ensemble cast led by Pohler, which ran for seven seasons, and started the careers of, among others, Chris Pratt and Aubrey Plaza. Though it had a bit of a sitcom lens, the writing was whip-smart and character-focused.
Dig has a great team, and it's definitely something we look forward to checking out.
On the surface, nothing is complicated about Apple TV+’s Echo Valley starring Sydney Sweeney and Julianne Moore. Moore helps her daughter (Sweeney) cover up her boyfriend's murder.
But the erupting tension in the trailer helps elevate this beyond network fare into something akin to Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.
Moore’s psychological torment is on full display. Not quite PT Anderson, Magnolia level (pharmacy scene), but close. Sweeney disappears in her character as a frightened young woman who dissociates from the trauma through drugs. She has removed any trace of her usual charisma, which makes us lean in to figure out what she is hiding. Ridley Scott serves as producer. Release date: June 13th.
Tidbits:
Betsy Brindt (Hank’s high-strung wife on Breaking Bad) stars in Adult Children. She plays the half-sibling of a 17-year-old who seeks her help for her college essay, and learns that all adults are well… just faking it. Brindt has a “get the hell out of my eyeline” vibe that should make this dramedy sing.
The third film in the children's animated film series Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie’ casts Terry Crews, Bill Nye, and Snoop Dogg. Don’t snooze on these films, the first two brought in nearly $350M worldwide. Release date for Paw Patrol 3: July 31, 2026.
Amazon MGM’s How to Rob a Bank adds Rhenzy Feliz (The Penguin). The film is directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train) and stars Nicholas Hoult and Pete Davidson. No word on plot but Feliz shined in HBO’s The Penguin as Oz’s assistant, whose moral dilemma between his dream girl (emblematic of his past) and his criminal boss (emblematic of his future) is great to watch. How to Rob a Bank releases on Labor Day 2026.
First look at Pamela Anderson in The Naked Gun reboot (looking like Faye Dunaway in Chinatown photo).
FESTIVALS
Cannes Acid 2025 film, Drunken Noodle, is not about the dish; it is about a state of mind. In this film, a young art student has a strange erotic encounter with an older artist who creates vivid crocheted work (trailer). Like many films in this Cannes sidebar section, it creates a liminal state. M-Appeal (Evil Does Not Exist) is the sales rep.
Cannes Classics line-up:
Slauson Rec
Dir: Leo Lewis O'Neil
Synopsis:
At a free LA theater school, cameras capture the intense dynamics between actor Shia LaBeouf and his students, revealing both the creative process and troubling moments behind the scenes.
I Love Peru
Dir: Raphaël Quenard and Hugo David
Synopsis:
In his headlong rush to success, an oddball comedian abandons his most loyal allies. Alone with himself, he is struck by a disturbing vision. He heads to Peru for a spiritual adventure.
Plus some wonderful throwbacks and two David Lynch Tribute docs. Full list here.
Plus 12 new Cannes market projects that we’re giddy about, including one where Miles Teller sells his soul to a magical posseum. And one where Mads Mikkelsen plays a chef for death row inmates. And another Twilight Zone-esque one where Richard Gere has to fly a plane after the pilot dies:
https://theindustry.co/p/cannes-market-2025
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
This just looks fun. Donnie Yen, the brilliant martial arts actor who played the blind hitman in the latest John Wick, stars as the titular character in The Prosecutor. He plays a prosecutor who exacts justice through bad-ass violence (trailer). Yen also serves as the director. Signature Entertainment (Terrifier 3) will release in the UK/Ireland.
In an ongoing global expansion, indie production/finance company TPC has acquired Australian group Mind the Gap Film Finance (Memoir of a Snail). TPC has recently also expanded into the U.K., as well as its acquisition of Media Capital Group in Vancouver.
Dogwoof grabs international rights for A24's Andre is an Idiot, a dark comedy about a colonoscopy, which took the audience award for US Documentary at Sundance. Thanks to director Anthony Benna for meeting this subject with humor.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
In this Post Coen Brothers era (RIP), we have Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t, a dark comedy retro noir and the second installment in his planned trilogy of queer B-movies.
Honey Don’t sees Margaret Qualley (who also starred in Coen’s zany Drive-Away Dolls) stars as the titular Honey alongside Aubrey Plaza as a flirtatious cop, Chris Evans as a charismatic cult leader, and as typical, a large ensemble of supporting actors.
The trailer showcases an insane caper with sharp dialogue, chaotic visuals, and a genre-bending tone set to some bleedingly cool tunes, evocative of his earlier works like Raising Arizona (1987) and Big Lebowski (1998).
The Coen Brothers stopped collaborating post The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), with Joel’s solo work The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) a classical drama, in black and white, and highly stylized, wildly contrasting his Ethan’s campier, more absurdist work.
Honey Don’t will world premiere at Cannes in the Midnight Section and launch in theatres Aug. 22nd (trailer).
Magnolia Pictures + HBO + CNN Films picks up Prime Minister. The film did very well at Sundance, picking up the World Cinema Doc Audience Award.
Synopsis:
Chronicling Jacinda Ardern's tenure as New Zealand PM, navigating crises while redefining global leadership through her empathetic yet resolute approach.
Magnolia Pictures and HBO have partnered on multiple projects, including acquiring Lisa Cortés’ Little Richard doc and collaborating with Kevin Macdonald on One to One: John & Yoko. While Magnolia and CNN films have previously partnered on the Little Richard Documentary, I am Everything. This is, however, the first time all three have collaborated on something.
Release date: June 13.
Apple’s Deaf President Now! which premiered at Sundance, has a trailer.
Here’s the official synopsis:
During eight tumultuous days in 1988 at the world’s only Deaf university, four students must find a way to lead an angry mob — and change the course of history.
The film is co-directed by Davis Guggenheim (dir: An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman). Releasing May 16th.
Tidbits:
Former Distribution head at Variance Films, Jasper Basch, has taken on the same title as well as a partner role over at Greenwich Entertainment (Coup!). Basch’s past theatrical distribution slate includes Oscar winners Flow and The Substance, as well as the $2 bn-grossing concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
Sideshow and Janus Films’ Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize - Vermiglio will make its streaming premiere on Criterion Channel. The film, written and directed by Maura Delpero, is set in 1944, in Vermiglio, a remote mountain village where the arrival of a deserter into the family of the local teacher changes the course of everyone's life. Trailer.
Angel Studios' latest is The Last Rodeo, directed by the legendary Jon Avnet (dir: Fried Green Tomatoes). The film centers on a retired rodeo legend who gets back into the game to save his ailing grandson. The riding sequences look like they’re shot with some of the same intensity as the boxing sequences in Raging Bull (trailer). Releasing May 23rd.
ON THIS DAY
1963. Dr. No premieres in the US.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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