Disney's Shutdown, Sony’s Score
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Disney’s Shutdown, Sony’s Score, and Stepsisters.
Let’s go!
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Disney’s deal to license 200+ of its characters to OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) is dead.
They had planned to invest $1bn in Sora, OpenAI’s video-generating app, allowing anyone to spin up little videos of Moana, Yoda, Mickey Mouse, and Elsa from Frozen, etc.
However, this will no longer happen as Sora has been shut down with OpenAI stating:
“To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing.”
OpenAI is moving into the more lucrative Enterprise software space. And that’s temporarily good news for the film industry, as they will no longer develop extinction-level tools for the film industry.
Disney may pivot to ink a deal with another AI company (Midjourney, Gemini Seedance), as this was going to be one of the new drivers for the Josh D’Amaro-led company.
Read more about how we think that would be a big mistake.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Oliver Stone will direct his first narrative feature since Snowden, w/ Josh Hartnett.
Shane Black will write and direct Sony’s adaptation of The Executioner.
Amazon MGM is developing an adult animated Monstress series.
Hulu adapts Liara Tamani’s YA romance This Ain’t Our First Rodeo for series.
Netflix is developing Layne Fargo’s The Favorites as a film.
Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo develop Netflix comedy series w/ Amy Poehler.
Phoebe Dynevor (Fair Play) stars in the UK Amazon original series Dirty.
Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) stars in the Korean remake of FX’s The Americans.
Michael Mando joins Legendary’s Gundam.
Netflix’s live-action Scooby-Doo cast Paul Walter Hauser.
Kirk Jones will direct a live-action Mr Benn film.
Disney hired The Naked Gun team for the Cinderella spinoff, Stepsisters.
Lawrence Bender produces remake of Italian classic The Treasure of San Gennaro.
Movistar+’s Domingo Corral signed a first-look TV deal with HBO Max.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Gaby Hoffmann started as a child actor.
87% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Oliver Stone is directing and writing his first narrative film since Snowden (2016).
It stars Josh Hartnett as a man who grew up with divorced parents, who is now divorcing his wife to go on a “lust-filled journey” until he meets a woman who changes everything.
This is a departure from Stone’s signature films, which repurpose stories of political upheaval and war as deeply personal tales (Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Platoon, and World Trade Center). Perhaps the style of his new film will be more intimate than we’ve seen from Stone. Although the last time one of his characters went on a true “lust-filled journey” was Natural Born Killers, which has the most bombastic stylization of all time (trailer).
Shane Black is Back. Shane Black (The Nice Guys) will write and direct Sony’s film adaptation of The Executioner.
Written by Don Pendleton, the action-packed book series follows a sniper who goes on a one-man war with the Mafia, the KGB, terrorists, and cyber-criminals. Joel Silver (Commando, Die Hard 2) is set to produce.
This is a return to high voltage action for Black, and we can expect a wild ride against international criminals, much like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Lethal Weapon (1987).
Four book adaptations from:
Amazon MGM
Hulu
Tubi
Welle Entertainment (The Idea of You)
Check out the quartet of adaptations here.
Good Walk Entertainment signs a First-Look deal with Sony Pictures Television. Led by Comedy Central’s Kent Alterman (Elf) and Sarah Babineau, the production company will produce scripted comedy and drama series for Sony. The duo is behind some of the most popular Comedy Central shows like South Park, Inside Amy Schumer, and Key & Peele. Three projects are in the works with writer Jessi Klein (Big Mouth) and Aadrita Mukerji (Scorpion).
Mini Tidbits:
At Netflix, reality stars-turned-viral-podcast-hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo are developing a new half-hour, scripted comedy series. Amy Poehler is producing, and Kay Cannon (prod. 30 Rock) will serve as showrunner. Written and starring the Giggly Squad hosts, the show will follow two best friends living in NYC.
Ken Segna named Head of Television for Prologue Entertainment (Zero Day). Segna is a seasoned executive, having served as Head of Television for Lee Daniels Entertainment and EVP of Development at MRC Television, where he oversaw The Terminal List and The Shrink Next Door.
Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) boards Black is Beautiful: Kwame Brathwaite Story as EP. Williams will produce alongside Alicia Keys and Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean. The documentary follows the life of photographer Kwame Brathwaite, who started the “Black is Beautiful” movement in the 1960s.
Man’s best friend. Kevin DiCicco, the man who turned a stray dog into the beloved movie star we know as Air Bud, has died at 63. The dog trainer and his adorable golden retriever got their start on America’s Funniest Home Videos and soon went on to spawn five films and nine spinoffs.
Netflix’s Adolescence leads the BAFTA TV Awards with 11 nominations. Full list of nominees here.
Renewals:
Apple TV’s For All Mankind (renewed for S6 - final season)
Paramount+’s Criminal Minds: Evolution (for S20)
Trailers:
ESPN’s Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN
Release: April 6
Roku’s The Reunion: Laguna Beach
Release: April 10
Disney Jr.’s Sofia the First: Royal Magic
Cast: Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart), Tony Hale (Arrested Development)
Release: May
Discovery’s Boy Band Confidential
Release: April 13th
First look:
HBO’s Harry Potter series
Release: 2027
BBC/MGM+’s A Tale of Two Cities
Cast: Kit Harington
Release date:
Samsung’s Hooligans: The ARCH Racing Project
Featuring: Keanu Reeves (a big motorcycle fan)
Release: Summer
Sony’s Columbia Pictures’ Jumanji 3
Release: Dec 25, 2026 (pushed 2 weeks)
StudioCanal’s Zoma
Star: Leonie Benesch (Late Shift, The Teacher’s Lounge)
German release: January 28, 2027
Disney+’s The Punisher: One Last Kill (TV Special)
Cast: Jon Bernthal
Release: May 12
Shoot dates:
Lionsgate’s untitled Caine film - John Wick spinoff
Dir/Star: Donnie Yen
Shooting: April
LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
New Line’s The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past
Writer: Stephen Colbert
Peter Jackson Announcement video
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Is Paul Walter Hauser going to play Scooby-Doo? Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo casts Hauser in an unnamed role.
Right now, the gang is already filled out: Tanner Hagen (The Pitt) as Shaggy Rogers, Abby Ryder Fortson (Carousel) as Velma Dinkley, Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space) as Fred Jones, and McKenna Grace (Regretting You, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) as Daphne Blake.
Hauser would be a sensational Scooby; he’s got a heightened goofiness as a sidekick in full display in The Naked Gun (2025, clip) that would translate well to this. Or if they go a different direction, as he makes a great cartoon villain.
Tidbits:
A different kind of No Other Choice. Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) to star in the Korean remake of FX’s The Americans. Disney+ has started the production of the show which is set during the tumultuous times of South Korea in the 1990s, the series will center around a family of North Korean spies living in South Korea. This isn’t the first time Lee has played a father who is hiding a secret. We hope to see the same blend of comedy and utter ruthlessness he’s shown in Park Chan-wook’s latest film, No Other Choice, as a father who must kill all of his rivaling candidates to get a job.
Phoebe Dynevor (Fair Play) stars in the UK Amazon original series Dirty. The show will follow a mother and daughter, both serving in the police force, who view each other as a burden to their occupation. Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies) is the showrunner, who described the show as “Michael Mann does Manchester”. Dynevor will revisit the position of a pressured daughter after her role as Daphne Bridgerton, the eldest daughter of the Bridgerton family, in the Netflix series Bridgerton.
Michael Mando joins Netflix’s Gundam. Mando will star alongside Sydney Sweeney and Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) on this live-action adaptation of the iconic Japanese mecha-epic. We hope to see him on the side of Zeon, the villainous space-dwelling humanity. Perhaps he might play Ramba Ral – the ace pilot for the Principality of Zeon during the times of the iconic One Year War that goes toe-to-toe with our protagonists’ pilots of Earth. Sweet Tooth showrunner Jim Mickle is set to direct.
Mini Tidbit:
CBS’s Einstein series has cast Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard) in a recurring role. It marks the first major television role for her since the FBI crime series Quantico came to a close in 2018. In Einstein, she’ll star alongside Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) as a veteran police officer counting down the days until she can retire.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
BAFTA-winning writer-director Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee) is giving Britain’s favorite bowler hat sporting character, Mr Benn, his own live adaptation.
David McKee’s beloved children’s books follow a seemingly ordinary man who goes on magical adventures every time he visits his local costume shop (sort of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe style).
Jones adored McKee’s stories as a child, and the project emphasizes kindness and empathy over ignorance much like his previous film I Swear (2025), an emotionally powerful film inspired by Scottish Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson.
Jones shared:
“Mr Benn travels through time and space to solve monumental problems, with kindness, compassion, and common sense.”
Casting is currently underway for the live-action film.
The funniest movie of the last year was undoubtedly The Naked Gun (2025). Now Disney has hired the director (Akiva Schaffer) and writers (Dan Gregor & Doug Mand) for Stepsisters, a live-action spinoff of Cinderella.
Synopsis:
Follows Anastasia and Drizella, Cinderella’s evil stepsisters, who abused her, as they come out from under her shadow.
Schaffer, Gregor, and Mand have an uncanny ability to make serious people look silly. Liam Neeson’s parody of himself as a tough-guy detective was sublime. Curious who they’ll cast, maybe Meryl Streep or Jodie Foster.
Mini Tidbits:
Toby Emmerich (former: Chairman WB Pictures) is the head of his newly formed Fireside Access TV (investor: Netflix’s AKA Charlie Sheen). He is joined by Amanda Krentzman (former: Exec at Netflix’s International Originals), who will serve as president. They have strong financial backing from Access Industries (Prod Co: Game Night).
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Longtime Tarantino producer, Lawrence Bender, will produce the remake of the heist classic The Treasure of San Gennaro. The original film follows a group of American criminals trying to steal the treasure of Naples’ patron saint.
There’s a glitzy, stylized heist element to the original film (trailer). We wouldn’t be surprised if Tarantino had already made an homage to it.
Movistar+’s Director of Fiction and Entertainment, Domingo Corral, signs a first-look deal with HBO Max.
Their first project under the pact is El Niño, which follows a short-time criminal living in the Spanish slums who is wrongly arrested.
Corral is a prolific producer, recently producing Neon’s Sirât.
Mini Tidbits:
Topic Studios
Icelandic actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Severance)
Canada’s Postmedia Studios
All those tidbits and more here.
ON THIS DAY
1908. David Lean (Dir: Lawrence of Arabia) born in Croydon, England.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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In your lead story you say:
‘Disney may pivot to ink a deal with another AI company (Midjourney, Gemini Seedance)’
Firstly, Gemini and Seedance aren’t companies. They’re AI models developed by Google and ByteDance respectively, so any deal would be with those companies rather than the models themselves.
Secondly, it would be highly unlikely for Disney to enter into a direct AI partnership with a Chinese company like ByteDance, given current regulatory scrutiny, IP sensitivities, and broader US–China tensions.