Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Dwayne Johnson’s Freedom, Britney Spears’ Fame, and a Heumann.
Let’s go!
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The last time an actor playing a character with dementia won an Oscar was Anthony Hopkins in The Father (2020). Before that, it was Julianne Moore in Still Alice (2014).
Now Dwayne Johnson will star in Free Byrd, a film with similar ambitions. The team surrounding Johnson is sensational:
Dir/Wri: Greg Kwedar (Sing Sing)
Co-Wri: Clint Bentley (Train Dreams)
Prod Co: Artists Equity (Damon and Affleck’s company)
Prod Co: Fifth Season (Severance)
Synopsis:
A washed-up motorcycle daredevil decides to perform one final stunt after being diagnosed with dementia.
Johnson stated:
“When the mind of a loved one begins to slip away, life sure takes on a whole new meaning.”
We love to think of The Rock’s characters as myopic, tactical. He’s got one mission, whether that’s to rescue his daughter from an earthquake in San Andreas (2015), restore balance to the ocean in Moana (2016/2026), or even save the world in the Fast and Furious films.
What makes this string of new Johnson art films unique is that his mind is muddled, such that we see him disconnect from reality and disintegrate.
It was plastered all over A24’s The Smashing Machine, which stood out for the ways in which Johnson’s character burrowed into opioid addiction. Free Byrd seems sharper in its depiction of the disparity between Johnson's attempt to achieve a singular goal and his mind losing focus.
The pedigree of this project, with Kwedar at the helm, allows us to believe that it will be handled with a sensitivity and grace that may make it worthy for the Rock to finally take the Oscar stage.
For More:
A24’s Smashing Machine trailer. Johnson is barely recognizable.
Johnson’s previous indie, Southland Tales (2006). He plays an amnesic screenwriter, penning a script with a porn star (trailer).
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Universal’s Britney Spears biopic taps Liz Meriwether to adapt.
David Chase will write and direct untitled LSD-centered 1950s feature.
Focus Features is developing David Lowery’s horror adaptation The Fisherman.
Viola Davis’ JuVee Productions inks first-look deal with Universal Global TV.
HBO’s Dorothea casts Geena Davis as infamous serial killer Dorothea Puente.
Scott Free Productions is making science doc The Vesuvius Challenge.
Mariska Hargitay will host the 78th Emmy Awards.
Louise Lasser, star of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, dies at 87.
Jason Isaacs stars in ITV’s series Maternity: Broken Trust.
TIFF opens with Sian Heder’s (CODA) disability rights drama Being Heumann.
Bleecker Street acquires NYC-set psychological thriller NDA w/ Rachel Zegler.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Maniac stars Julia Garner and Emma Stone.
60% got it correct.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Oops!... they found their writer. Universal’s anticipated Britney Spears biopic has tapped New Girl and Dying for Sex writer Liz Meriwether to adapt the screenplay. Based on the pop star’s bestselling 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, the “Toxic” singer recounts her rise from teen pop stardom to her highly publicized mental breakdown that led to a conservatorship she fought tirelessly to be freed from.
Meriwether’s FX/Hulu limited series won Michelle Williams a Golden Globe for her role as a woman facing a terminal cancer diagnosis as she attempts to reclaim ownership of her body and identity after years of living according to other people’s expectations. Similarly, Spears’ memoir is less about her time in the spotlight, but rather the endless public scrutiny she endured while struggling to take back control of her own life. Meriwether’s sensitivity towards female characters reclaiming agency makes her a compelling addition alongside Jon M. Chu (dir. Wicked), who is attached to direct. Casting is underway. Michelle Williams as Spears?
From gabagool to LSD, The Sopranos creator David Chase is developing a new feature that he will write and direct, centered on the mind-altering psychedelic.
While a standalone feature, the new project has obvious similarities to Chase’s previously announced HBO limited series Project MKUltra. The upcoming series will follow a CIA chemist, known as “The Black Sorcerer”, directly involved with the illegal and highly dangerous human experiments during the Cold War.
At this year’s Karlovy Vary festival, Chase briefly teased details about his untitled film, sharing that it will be set in the '50s, heavily musical, and show the cultural impact of LSD against the simultaneous nationwide rollout of the polio vaccine.
David Lowery (Dir: A24’s Mother Mary) is making a film adaptation of the horror novel The Fisherman with Focus Features. Based on a novel by John Langan, the film follows two widowers who stumble across a mysterious spot in upstate New York that allows a person to see their loved ones, unwillingly waking up a terrifying entity named Der Fisher (the Fisherman). Michael Bay and Gary Dauberman (Wri: Annabelle franchise) are producing.
Lowery’s films have stylish production design and mystical atmosphere, which go hand-in-hand with this novel’s folk horror core. Focus Features, hot off Obsession’s $400M success, will be luring established indie filmmakers into the horror genre, even if they’ve never played in that space. We like Lowery from his indie work: Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013), A24’s A Ghost Story (2017), and studio fare like Disney’s Pete’s Dragon (2016).
Tidbits:
Viola Davis’ JuVee Productions (The Woman King) inks first-look deal with Universal Global TV. Their first project under the agreement is Pawn, a romantic drama series that follows a woman who slips into the St. Louis world of crime to pay her grandma’s medical bills. There’s a great comp here in the recent Leo Woodall-led Tuner. No word on whether we’ll see Davis in the project. Chantelle M. Wells (wri/prod: Daredevil: Born Again, Yellowjackets) will script the series.
HBO’s newest crime drama, Dorothea, casts Oscar-winning Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist) as California’s most infamous female serial killer. Co-written by Smallville actor Michael Rosenbaum and Joshua Michael Stern (dir: Jobs), the latter will serve as showrunner. The series will take a closer look at Sacramento native Dorothea Puente, who used the boarding house she ran for the less fortunate for her sinister actions.
Scott Free Productions (Prod Co: Gladiator II) is making a doc feature, The Vesuvius Challenge, narrated by Guy Pearce. The film will follow an ongoing science competition that uses machine learning to read hundreds of ancient scrolls that were buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU) will host the 78th Emmy Awards on NBC. This will be Hargitay’s first major hosting gig and the first time since the 1993 Emmys that the ceremony is not hosted by a comedian. Hargitay showed her wit and comedic timing on the Ellen Show, so we are excited to see what she brings.
Mini Tidbits:
The CA tax credit’s latest round seems to be doubling down on financing studio animated films from Pixar and DreamWorks. And also indies from 2AM (prod co: Babygirl, The Materialist). Full breakdown here.
Four adaptations are in the works, including one for Universal TV from the producer of Django Unchained. Details here.
WME promotes executive Marie Sheehy to EVP, Head of Corporate Communications.
Renewal:
BBC’s Crookhaven (renewed for S2)
In Development:
Lionsgate’s Harold & Kumar 4
Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn
Trailers:
Paramount+’s Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender
Cast: Dave Bautista, Steven Yeun
Release: July 25
Neon’s The Wrong Girls
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat
Release: Aug 14
Starz’s Fightland
Release: July 31
Release Dates:
Apple TV’s Nocturne
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, Stephen Graham
Release: Oct 30
Inaugural Entertainment’s Tiny Fugitives
Cast: Johnny Knoxville
Release: Sept 18
Sky Kids’ animation Paris & Pups
Cast: Paris Hilton
U.S. Release: Sept 23, 2025
Production Wrapped:
Da Ali G Show Film
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen
Production Wrapped: July
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
The queen of deadpan, actress Louise Lasser (Bananas), has passed away at 87. The titular star of Norman Lear’s satirical soap Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, the show tackled serious social issues with wit and absurdity, making Lasser a household name for its brutally honest depiction of American suburbia. She began her career as Woody Allen’s first leading lady, appearing in several of his earliest films. Forever remembered in gingham, with her signature pigtails and an infectious laugh, she will be very missed.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-77) opening theme oozes with nostalgia.
Bananas (1971, clip).
Tidbits:
Jason Isaacs, post-White Lotus S3, is cast in Maternity: Broken Trust, the scripted series version of ITV’s award-winning docu-series. Isaacs will play a doctor whose daughter is stillborn, triggering his crusade against the hospital, uncovering that he is one of hundreds who suffered a similar fate. Isaacs excels at being vindictive and heartfelt in equal measure, and this will be a great role if the writing is strong. From Vice’s Cuba Pictures.
John Goodman is cast in director JT Mollner’s next horror, Sony Pictures’ Skeletons, starring Brie Larson, from producer J.J. Abrams. The film is told from the POV of a young boy who slowly discovers that his parents are hiding a disturbing secret. Goodman can be quite scary when he wants, like in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).
It’s a Shark Tank world, we’re just swimming in it. MrBeast will be a guest shark on Season 18. The ABC show is looking to pull in new audiences after the departure of the highest-net-worth shark, Mark Cuban. Mindy Kaling will also be a guest shark.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
TIFF is starting with a bang. The festival will open with Apple’s Being Heumann, the new film from Best Picture-winner Siân Heder (CODA).
Synopsis:
1977. Disability rights activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) leads a historic 28-day occupation of San Francisco’s Federal Building, uniting protesters in a fight for accessibility laws and equal rights.
Premiering September 10th. Co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Dylan O’Brien.
Two other films were announced:
Prima Facie
Dir: Susanna White
Cast: Cynthia Erivo
The Assassin(s)
Dir: Hur Jin-ho
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Bleecker Street doubles down on NYC-set psychological thrillers with their latest acquisition, NDA. The film stars Rachel Zegler, whose character kicks off a wild day by filing an office harassment claim, leading her to question her sanity and the value of truth.
Similar themes were at play in Bleecker Street’s Relay, which also revolved around a woman (Lily James) caught between exposing corporate wrongdoing and surviving an intimidation campaign.
We’ll see where NDA lands in terms of relationship dynamics, as Penn Badgley and Amy Ryan are also in the cast.
Currently shooting in NYC.
IDFA’s international Best Film winner, A Fox Under a Pink Moon, is boarded by Oscar winner David Borenstein (Dir: Mr. Nobody Against Putin) as EP.
The film is an incredible portrait of a talented Afghan artist whose sculptures take the form of demons and who tries to escape her country (trailer).
With Borenstein on board, this bolsters its shot at the Oscars.
Takashi Yamazaki (Dir: Godzilla Minus One) is making a 20th Century original sci-fi pic, Nue. Scott Free will produce. Yamazaki has made a name for himself with Godzilla Minus One (2023), which earned an Oscar and $114M worldwide. His interpretation of the legendary Godzilla franchise added themes of guilt and healing to the devastating destruction, earning praise from audiences and critics.
Mini Tidbits:
Craig Kilborn’s directorial debut
Latin sci-fi series
Logorama’s new animation
All those tidbits here.
ON THIS DAY
2010. Inception premieres in London.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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