Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
HBO Max’s Hacks, DGA’s Deal, and Disney’s Dream.
Let’s go!
If you enjoy today’s edition, please hit the like button or leave a comment.
Jean Smart has been nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for every season of Hacks; she has won 4 out of 4. Can she sweep? Click here for more info.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Nick Reiner is formally indicted on two first-degree murder charges.
DGA and IATSE urge California AG Rob Bonta and Paramount to make a deal.
Disney adapts Miye Lee’s The Dallergut Dream Department Store to a feature.
Netflix fast-tracks a The Lincoln Lawyer spinoff starring Cobie Smulders.
Joe Roth will produce a feature adaptation of horror game Scary Teacher.
Big Shot Pictures hires former MGM co-president, Adam Rosenberg.
Seinfeld is staying on Netflix for another five years.
Alden Ehrenreich joins Michael B. Jordan in Joseph Kosinski’s Miami Vice ’85.
Greenwich takes North American rights to Sundance title Run Amok.
1-2 Special acquires U.S. rights to Closure.
Netflix licenses Turkish drama Fatmagül for Latin America.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Skins, Nicholas Hoult’s first villain role.
36% got it correct.
Hacks is the most nominated series of the year. Click here for more info.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Nick Reiner has been formally indicted for the crime of first-degree murder of his parents, Michele and Rob Reiner. An additional allegation of “lying in wait” has been added as well.
He is currently being represented by a public defender, although he is trying to win half of the $1.5M in trust money to help him mount a defense. A trial has not been set, but there will be a pre-trial hearing on September 15th.
If convicted, Nick faces life in prison or possibly the death penalty. Read our Rob Reiner obit here: https://theindustry.co/p/rob-reiner-rip.
DGA and IATSE have spoken. They want Paramount and the State AGs to move their asses into gear, either negotiating guardrails on the merger or moving their March 2027 antitrust trial earlier.
The biggest pain point for the nearly 200,000 members of the directors’ guild and IATSE (whose members include below-the-line craftspeople and technicians) is that the uncertainty of the merger is causing confusion, leading to productions being canceled and job losses.
They’re proposing guardrails for the merger, including keeping the film studios (Warner Bros. and Paramount) and the TV studios as separate entities, while preserving HBO as a linear pay-TV channel. They also recommend implementing guarantees that production won’t drop below current averages.
Ellison has already said he’d keep both studios separate. But on the streaming side he does want to smash Paramount+ and HBO Max together.
Read DGA and IATSE’s joint statement here.
Tidbits:
Disney’s newest live-action film is an adaptation of The Dallergut Dream Department Store series with A Monster Calls writer Patrick Ness adapting. Korean author Miye Lee’s bestselling magical books follow the young Penny who sells dreams to her sleepy clientele when suddenly a nightmare threatens not just the business but all of society. Ness frequents the world of the fantastical, creating and writing the eight-part BBC Doctor Who spinoff Class (2016). No word on when Dream Department will start production.
Netflix is fast-tracking a Lincoln Lawyer spinoff built around Cobie Smulders, set to reprise her role as Mickey’s newly discovered half-sister Emi Finch. Original series EPs Ted Humphrey, Dailyn Rodriguez, and Matthew J. Lieberman will be writing the spinoff, with A+E Studios producing. The announcement arrives just months after announcing The Lincoln Lawyer’s ending, with season 5 doubling as Smulders’ introduction as a series regular.
Digital horror game Scary Teacher (trailer) is getting a feature adaptation from former Fox chairman Joe Roth. Created by Z & K Games, Scary Teacher is a stealth simulation game where students must infiltrate the house of Miss T – a scary teacher who terrorizes her students. Its gameplay videos garnered millions of views on many YouTube channels. Cory Todd Hughes and Adrian Speckert (Wri: Under Fire) will write the screenplay. Scary Teacher is pretty much similar to Five Nights at Freddy’s in that it is a horror game that got famous for gameplay videos – let’s see if it can start a successful franchise like FNaF.
Mini Tidbits:
Big Shot Pictures (Prod Co: Upcoming Animated Alvin and the Chipmunks film) announces Adam Rosenberg as their Head of Film. He was the Co-President of Production for MGM and Founder of ARO Pictures before the move.
Grab that éclair out of the trash because these pretzels are making me thirsty. Seinfeld is staying on Netflix for another 5 years in the US and Canada. The show is also staying on Paramount’s linear channels (Comedy Central, TV Land, etc.) for another 3 years. Yada yada yada.
Trailers:
Netflix’s Animals
Dir: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun
Release: Oct 9
Peacock’s The Paper S2
Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore
Release: Sept 9
Prime Video’s Neagley S1
Release: Sept 16
MGM+’s A Tale of Two Cities
Cast: Kit Harington
Release: Sept 6
FX’s Adults S2
Release: Aug 27
Netflix’s Crew Girl
Release: Sept 10
CBC’s Son of a Critch S5
Release: Sept 8
Ukrainian film Demons
Locarno World Premiere: Aug 13
AI history drama Castle Walls
Prime Video Release: Aug 13
First Look:
FX’s The Lowdown
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Tommy Lee Jones, Betty Gilpin
Release: Oct 14
Release Dates:
Netflix’s Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory
Cast: Kit Connor, Taika Waititi
Theatrical Release: Nov 5, 2027 (47-day theatrical window)
Netflix Release: Dec 22, 2027
Sky and NOW’s SNL UK S2
Release: Sept. 12
Documentary+’s WrestleHer
Release: Sept 10
They saved the best for last. Click here for more info.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) is heading to Miami. Universal Pictures’ Miami Vice ‘85 squad just got a little bit bigger with Ehrenreich joining Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler in Joseph Kosinski’s big-screen take on the iconic 80s series.
Prior to landing his first Tony win for Becky Shaw, Ehrenreich’s last movie role saw him playing the flawed, small-town officer in Zach Cregger’s record-breaking horror Weapons (2025). Going from a compromised cop who leaves plenty to be desired to a world of undercover agents, where nobody can ever fully let their guard down, marks a fun pivot for the actor.
As Ehrenreich continues to land bigger films, from his supporting turn in Best Picture winner Oppenheimer (2023) to his strong performance in Sundance film Fair Play (2023), he’s proven adept at showing off both a natural charm and a simultaneous level of menace that makes him a smart fit for the volatile world of Miami Vice.
There’s no word yet on which side of the law Ehrenreich will find himself on, but production is set to begin this October.
Tidbits:
From child star to prestige TV veteran, Gaby Hoffmann (Amazon’s Transparent) is set to join Paramount+’s new limited series The Best of Us. Jeremy Strong leads the cast, with the series set to dramatize a relentless legal war to secure compensation for the thousands of first responders who fell ill in the wake of 9/11. Hoffmann will play a seasoned FDNY firefighter who was deeply impacted by the loss from the harrowing terrorist attack.
Before James Franco makes a small Hollywood comeback with the Rambo prequel film John Rambo, he’s starring in a vertical short drama, Love, Lies & Frank (trailer). The vertical short stars Franco as Jimmy Franks, the CEO of an ad agency who must run his company against criminal and supernatural threats. Produced by Knockout Shorts and available to stream on Shortical.
My Life with the Walter Boys’ Jake Manley is joining AMC’s upcoming NASCAR drama series Thunder Road as a series regular. Joining Dennis Quaid as a racing legend, aka The Wrecking Ball, Manley will play the son of a rival racing family who has been trained since birth to carry on the racing dynasty. Thunder Road will debut on AMC sometime next year.
Shirley Cruz (The Best Mother in the World) will star in Trans Coming-Of-Age film The She-Devil. The film is set in the 90s and follows a boy who becomes obsessed with an imaginary killer who attacks girls in their neighborhood.
Anson Boon (MobLand) and Ellie Bamber (Moss & Freud) are starring in a soccer film, Halftime Hero. Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and Live Nation are producing the film. The film will deal with the iconic incident when soccer coach Harry Redknapp pulled a foul-mouthed fan from the stands to play in a professional match.
Sagar Radia (Industry) joins HBO’s true-crime limited series The Trial of Louise Woodward. The drama will follow the true story of how an 18-year-old British teenager was accused of shaking a baby to death. Radia joins Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus), who has been cast in the titular role.
TECH SECTION
AI video generator Seedance 2.5 is blocking the use of Hollywood IP after its previous version, Seedance 2.0, brought outrage with its Cruise vs. Pitt fighting video. As more and more AI is integrated into filmmaking, these regulations are the protection that keeps these tech companies from stealing cultural icons as actors and characters to profit off of them. For the industry to survive, we need to protect the people and the IP that give these tools to make something valuable in the first place.
The American Film Market is expanding its Innovation Hub with the launch of AFM House, in collaboration with Cannes Next. The hub will bring together AI startups and leading technology companies with filmmakers and creators.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Greenwich Entertainment picks up North American rights to Sundance 2026’s Run Amok. The film centers on a teen who re-stages her high school shooting as a musical. Patrick Wilson and Molly Ringwald star, but this definitely is not Sixteen Candles. No word on release date.
1-2 Special (Dist: Rose of Nevada starring Callum Turner) acquires the U.S. rights to Michał Marczak’s documentary Closure. The film, which premiered at Sundance, follows Daniel Dymiński, a father on a mission to locate his son, Chris, who was last seen by surveillance cameras walking on Warsaw’s Gdańsk Bridge.
The late Gordon Bressack’s (Wri: Pinky & The Brain) play Fuggedaboudit! is being turned into a feature puppet film by his son, James Cullen Bressack. The film follows a New York model who loses his memory and is confronted by an ex-fiancée, an ex-girlfriend, and a mobster who all want to rewrite his past. Sounds gloriously zany.
Netflix will distribute Fatmagül – an iconic Turkish drama from 2010 – for Latin America. Fatmagül has been sold to over 150 countries. The series follows a young village woman who is assaulted by a group of wealthy men and then forced to marry Kerim, a man present during the attack, to conceal the crime. The show starts streaming on Aug 19.
ON THIS DAY
1967. Bonnie and Clyde is released.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram
Want to advertise with us? Email: clarke.scott@theindustry.co