Harris Dickinson and Mubi's Buying Spree
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Harris Dickinson’s debut, Lionsgate’s high, and Mubi’s 8x bet,
Let’s go!
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This year, Cannes saw a trio of A-list actors move behind the camera for their directorial debut:
Scarlett Johansson - Eleanor the Great
Kristen Stewart - Chronology of Water
Harris Dickinson - Urchin
We found that Dickinson, who recently starred alongside Nicole Kidman in A24’s Babygirl, has the strongest artistic voice.
Urchin follows an unhoused man, Mike, who struggles in a world where empathy is lacking, yet desperately longs for it at every turn. As his boss tells him after a destructive episode:
“It’s like you’re expecting some kind of constant sympathy.”
The respect Dickinson pays to the character of Mike, to show his imperfections instead of painting him as a saint, shows his talent for showcasing human stories. And although a grounded piece, Dickinson isn’t afraid to include abstract metaphorical sequences.
The final effect is a masterful film that fully explores the craft of cinema.
Thematically and geographically, his work exists in the same sphere as Luna Carmoon’s recent BAFTA-nominated feature debut, Hoard, which itself explores an often-ignored and less attractive facet of humanity through obsessive hoarding disorder.
Dickinson’s affinity for filmmaking makes me believe that this will be the beginning of his directorial career, joining Greta Gerwig and Bradley Cooper as stars who recently switched lanes and created beautiful and successful bodies of work.
Reflecting on the directorial process, Dickinson said:
“The opportunity to lead, it challenged me in ways I’ve been looking for.”
Let’s hope he once again accepts the challenge.
For More:
Urchin first look clip.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Lionsgate studio profit hits 10-year high.
Michael Jackson biopic Michael delayed to 2026.
A24 and Alex Garland will adapt hit video game Elden Ring.
Skydance is in talks to acquire Fortune starring Alan Ritchson (Reacher).
Netflix wins Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets for series adaptation.
Blumhouse adapts the novel Our Last Resort with Charlize Theron attached.
Holt McCallany leads Netflix’s The Waterfront.
Josh Hartnett will star in Netflix’s untitled sea creature thriller series.
Jimmy Kimmel joins the Smurfs voice cast.
Mubi acquires The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident, and Sound of Falling at Cannes.
Neon acquires It Was Just an Accident.
The President’s Cake wins Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Tribeca unveils 55 jurors.
Oscar-winning DP Billy Williams (Gandhi) dies at 95.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor makes her feature writing debut.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Lionsgate Q4 2025 earnings, as compared to last year:
$1.06bn revenue
↑ 22%
$21.9M net profit
↑ $47M loss
$135M Motion Picture studio profit
↑ 64.6%
This was the highest Motion Picture Segment Profit in ten years. Reasons for a standout quarter:
Split from Starz
Robust home platform sales from Den of Thieves 2 and Flight Risk, which failed to break even theatrically
Lower P&A spend
However, Lionsgate’s expected biggest film of the year, their Michael Jackson biopic Michael, was pushed to 2026 as a legal dispute over the ending caused them to reshoot the third act.
Arise Ye Tarnished!: A24 and Alex Garland (Dir: Civil War) are adapting Fromsoft's Elden Ring, which is considered by many to be possibly the best game of the decade.
The bizarre "Lands Between” builds upon an epic history and world building by none other than George R.R. Martin.
This will absolutely be A24’s biggest project, dwarfing the current biggest, Civil War ($50M budget). This is such an exciting world full of amazing, nuanced, and weird characters, much like the game itself. This will certainly be a challenge. But also not unlike finally taking down Milenia, Morgot, and Mohg, the rewards will be plentiful.
Tidbits:
A trio of Studio executives have jumped to new media:
Disney executive joins YouTube
Name: Justin Connolly
Disney career length: 20 years
Old Disney role: President of Platform Distribution
New YouTube role: Global Head of Media and Sports
(Disney is suing for breach of contract)
Amazon executive joins podcast company
Name: Georgia Brown
Amazon career length: 5 years
Old Amazon role: Head of Studios, Europe
New Danish Podcast Company Podimo role: Chief Content Officer
Warner Bros. Discovery executive joins TikTok.
Name: Jori Arancio
WBD career length: 20 years
Old WBD role: Communications Executive
New TikTok role: Global Consumer & B2B Communications
Why is this happening? YouTube is dominating the studios/streamers in terms of monthly TV viewing. They have a 65% larger audience share than their closest competitor, Netflix (and 2.5x Disney). Podcasts are taking off with Audible and Wondery making major inroads into Hollywood with their shows being adapted into hit TV shows (FX’s Dying for Sex, etc.). And in 2024, TikTok exceeded YouTube by 10% in the average minutes/day spent on the platform.
Netflix has won a fierce bidding war for The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown’s upcoming Robert Langdon (lead character: The Da Vinci Code) novel, ordering a straight-to-series adaptation before the book's release this September. Co-created by Brown and Carlton Cuse (Co-Creator: Jack Ryan), Robert Langdon's stint on the silver screen started when The Da Vinci Code became a cultural phenomenon, leading to (subpar) adaptations starring Tom Hanks. It could be interesting to see a reinterpretation of the character.
Nicolas Sparks’ coming-of-age romance story, A Walk to Remember, is getting a reboot with Five Feet Apart (2019) writers Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis attached to the project. The Warner Bros. 2002 film adaptation saw lead actors Shane West and Mandy Moore giving breakout performances, cementing its legacy in the modern rom-com canon (trailer).
Mini Tidbits:
Blumhouse Television has acquired rights to Clémence Michallon’s upcoming novel Our Last Resort, following their adaptation of her debut novel The Quiet Tenant. The book follows estranged siblings entangled in a murder at a remote desert resort. Charlize Theron is attached.
Skydance is negotiating to acquire Fortune, an adventure film starring Alan Ritchson, described as Memento meets Raiders of the Lost Ark.. It’s penned by Minecraft writers Neil Widener and Gavin James, who are riding off their chicken jockey success with an original story.
Warner Bros President of Physical Production and Media, Michele (Missy) Imperato Stabile, is retiring. Leaving behind a 40-year-long career (Ghostbusters, Twilight), she has worked closely with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the industry.
Release dates:
20th Century’s Devil Wears Prada 2
Release date: May 1, 2026
20th Century’s The Dog Stars
Dir: Ridley Scott
Release date: March 27, 2026
Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday
Release date pushed: May 1, 2026 → Dec 18, 2026
Marvel’s Avengers: Secret Wars
Release date pushed: May 7, 2027 → Dec 17, 2027
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Holt is a Family Man: Holt McCallany (The Iron Claw, Mindhunter) will star in the new family drama series The Waterfront, written and EP’d by Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek).
The series is inspired by the real-life Buckley family's struggle to maintain control of their failing North Carolina fishing empire, resorting to increasingly dangerous tactics.
Holt McCallany will be playing the Buckley Family's Patriarch, Harlan Buckley, a figure hell bent on keeping his status and protecting his family.
Fresh off playing another threatening Father, Fritz Von Eric, in The Iron Claw, he looked the part of an ex-wrestler and acted as the pressure cooker that led his sons to their doom (Clip).
He seems less intense and more comedic in The Waterfront trailer. Release date June 19th.
Josh Hartnett and sea creatures. Hartnett will star in and EP an untitled supernatural creature series for Netflix. The six-episode series will focus on a mysterious sea creature terrorizing a remote town challenged by a hard-bitten fisherman (Hartnett?) determined to protect his family.
We love this for Hartnett as he’s recently been pigeonholed into “normal-seeming dude goes insane” roles (Trap, Fight or Flight).
Jesse McKeown (writer: The Umbrella Academy) is the creator and showrunner.
Mini Tidbit
Young Dexter, actor Patrick Gibson, has joined Play Dead, a survival thriller from director Jaume Collet-Serra (Carry-On). Production is currently underway in Australia.
Nicola Walker and Jemaine Clement will star in Alice and Steve, a Disney+ comedy about lifelong friends whose bond is tested when Steve begins dating Alice's 26-year-old daughter.
Jimmy Kimmel joins the voice cast of Paramount’s Smurfs, led by Rihanna as Smurfette. We don't yet know who Kimmel is voicing yet, but perhaps it's a late-night host cameo? Directed by Chris Miller, it opens July 18.
FESTIVALS / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Mubi makes three Cannes acquisitions, all official selections:
Dir/Wri: Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau)
Star: Wagner Moura (Civil War)
Rights: UK, Ireland, India, Latin America (minus Brazil)
Neon has domestic
Dir: Jafar Panahi (No Bears)
Rights: U.K., Ireland, India, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Turkey
Neon has domestic
Rights: North America, UK, Ireland, India, Turkey.
For those keeping count at home:
Mubi (8)
Alpha
Die My Love
The Mastermind (Josh O’Connor, art thief, new trailer)
The History of Sound
Sound of Falling
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
My Father’s Shadow
Neon (6)
Alpha
Sentimental Value
The Secret Agent
It Was Just an Accident
Splitsville
Orwell: 2+2=5
More Cannes tidbits:
Trailer for I Only Rest In The Storm (Un Certain Regard)
WME comes on as the sales rep for The Six Billion Dollar Man (dir: Eugene Jarecki).
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Awards:
People's Choice (top prize)
The President's Cake
Dir: Hasan Hadi
Best European Film Prize
Wild Foxes
Dir: Valéry Carnoy
Tribeca Lines up its 55 judges. Here are the heavy hitters:
U.S. Narrative Competition
Nia DaCosta (Dir: Candyman, The Marvels)
Art Linsen (Prod: Fight Club)
Colson Whitehead (author: The Nickel Boys)
International Narrative Feature Competition
Tony Jones
Kyle Mclaughlin
Documentary Feature Competition
2x Oscar-winner Ben Proudfoot (The Last Repair Shop)
Best New Narrative Director
Matthew Broderick
Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
Full list here. Festival breakdown here.
Netflix will world premiere Titan: The OceanGate Disaster in the Spotlight Documentary category at Tribeca. The trailer feels like an eerie true crime. Release date: June 11.
Warner Bros. Discovery and U-Next, a Japanese streaming giant, have just unveiled plans to distribute a slate of premium Japanese content on Max across international markets. The streamer launched its platform in Japan last year.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Academy Award-winning DP Billy Williams (Gandhi) has passed away at 95. In Gandhi, Williams shoots it like a stuffy period piece, allowing the cinematography to be another oppressive force Ben Kingsley must overcome.
Wide shots dotted with soldiers, making him seem tiny in a crowd. However, the subtle trick of the film was the medium and close-ups with a subtle low angle, allowing him to seem like a quiet but immovable force (trailer).
Williams also shot the Iraq scene in The Exorcist (1973).
Academy Award-nominated actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard) is making her feature writing debut with a Sister Rosetta Tharpe biopic.
This isn’t to be confused with Amazon MGM’s Tharpe biopic starring Lizzo.
Ellis-Taylor stated:
“With six guitar strings and an amplifier as a battering ram, Sister Rosetta Tharpe knocked down the Jericho walls of convention and respectability.”
Tribeca Films is producing along with Mick Jagger.
Mini Tidbits:
If you love heartbreaking and uplifting documentaries. Check out Jeannette. It follows a woman who survived the Pulse Nightclub Shootings and takes up bodybuilding to gain control over her sanity (trailer). Gravitas Venture (Zachary Quinto’s Adult Best Friends) releases on June 17th.
Buffalo 8 (Prod co: Woman of the Hour) acquires Lord Curzon Ki Haveli, an Indian thriller blending Hitchcock and satire, marking its first Indian title for North American release.
ON THIS DAY
1980. The Shining is released.
See you Monday!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Molly Wise, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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