Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
David Chase Returns, A24’s Weather Girl, and a dance.
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“Even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
David Chase is finally returning to the small screen, and fans of The Sopranos (1999-2007) can breathe a sigh of both nostalgia and excitement. The mastermind behind the revolutionary series is taking a bold leap into entirely new territory with Project: MKUltra, a limited series in development at HBO.
Official Synopsis:
A dramatic thriller centered on CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb, who headed the MKUltra program conducting dangerous mind control experiments on subjects during the Cold War using psychedelic drugs, hypnosis, and torture.
The show will explore the infamous CIA mind-control experiments of the 1950s and 60s, a dark and morally fraught chapter in American history. Chase is uniquely positioned to dramatize the chilling consequences of government-sanctioned experimentation, much as he once dissected the moral compromises of a mob boss navigating family, power, and existential dread.
It’s been nearly two decades since Tony Soprano last prowled New Jersey, leaving behind a trail of backroom deals, Bada Bing nights, and cultural influence that reshaped television storytelling forever.
Just as The Sopranos redefined prestige television with its complex antiheroes and (at the time) never-before-seen genre-blurring, HBO’s backing of Project MKUltra signals the network’s confidence in the writer’s ability to dive back into the moral gray zone, the place where he has done his best work.
And perhaps that’s the perfect symmetry of Chase’s return: as Tony Soprano once mused, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and after all these years, Chase’s time has come again.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Warner Bros. Discovery rejects three Paramount bids.
Netflix & A24 team for Weather Girl, a dark comedy series.
Universal developing rom-com with Nikki Glaser from Judd Apatow.
Apple picks up Sponsor directed by James Ponsoldt, starring Jason Segel.
Sony Animation and Netflix partner on The Mitchells vs. the Machines 2.
Emily St. John Mandel’s Exit Party sparks an 8–10 studio bidding war.
Skybound & Hasbro developing Energon Universe.
Charter cuts 1,200 managers (1% of workforce).
CAA promotes Sarah Schweitzman to Co-Head of Media Finance.
CBS orders Cupertino, a Silicon Valley legal drama from The Good Wife creators.
Miley Cyrus records song for Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Kit Connor and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai reteam for A24’s A Long Winter.
Charlie Heaton joins Mia Wasikowska in Twice Over.
Laura Linney stars in BBC’s But When We Dance.
Magnolia acquires TIFF’s Carolina Caroline starring Samara Weaving.
Killer Films partners with TomKat Media on co-productions.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Today, the Hollywood winds have aligned, and a few hot new projects from Apple, Netflix, A24, and Sony have been announced.
Netflix + A24 TV:
Weather Girl
Cast: Julia McDermott
Prod Co: Team Downey (Robert Downey Jr.’s company)
Showrunner/Dir/Wri: Brian Watkins (showrunner Prime’s Outer Range)
Synopsis:
Follows a Californian weather girl’s (McDermott) mental breakdown while reporting on a wildfire inside a family’s burning home.
This is adapted from Watkins’ sold-out Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, which received rave reviews (McDermott reprises her role).
Universal:
Untitled Rom-Com Feature
Producer/Co-writer/Star: Nikki Glaser
Producer: Judd Apatow (through Apatow Productions)
Co-Writer: Sean O’Connor (writer: The last Golden Globes where Glaser hosted)
It would be great to see Apatow direct this one. He’s had trouble getting mid-budget comedy films off the ground in this climate, and this would be a win.
Apple:
Dir/co-writer: James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, The End of the Tour)
Star/co-writer: Jason Segel
Prod Co: Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes
Synopsis:
After a DUI, Peter must choose jail or recovery. He meets Jerry, a sponsor at meetings he reluctantly attends. Jerry’s unusual approach transforms support into a troubling situation Peter struggles to leave.
Back in June, the film was given $2.5M in CA tax credits.
Sony Pictures Animation:
The Mitchells vs. the Machines 2
Dir: Guillermo Martinez
Prod Co: Lord Miller (The Lego Movie, Spider-Verse)
Distributor: Netflix
The original was a fun road trip comedy that tried to tackle family dynamics and our growing reliance on tech (until they become sentient). It was a fun time and beautifully animated.
Warner Bros. Discovery is playing hard to get. They’ve rejected three bids from Paramount, a Skydance Company:
Bid #1
$19.5/share
$48.3bn valuation
Bid #2
$22/share
$54.5bn valuation
Bid #3
$23.5/share
$58.2bn valuation
80% cash bid
WBD CEO David Zaslav stays on a Co-CEO and co-Chairman of the combined company
Breakup fee if they exit deal: $2.1bn
Some believe WBD could hold out for $30/share ($74.25bn valuation).
Other possible suitors include Amazon and Comcast. Or possibly Netflix, which would just be interested in buying WBD’s IP.
Tidbits:
Buying Bond. We reported back in February that Amazon MGM bought the rights to Bond: https://theindustry.co/p/bezos-takes-bond. The price they paid that time was a major sum—not $1bn, but a hefty amount. We’re now seeing a filing from EON Productions (Bond Prod co) that they sold the stake in Bond for $20M. The Barbara Broccoli-owned company is probably getting paid out in a few different ways from Amazon, but this is much less than was initially thought.
Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment (Invincible) and Hasbro Entertainment are developing Energon Universe, an adult animated crossover of Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Void Rivals. Inspired by Kirkman’s comic universe, launched in 2023, Kirkman created a shared universe for all of his favorite toys as a kid. With season 4 of Invincible and a show based on Skybound’s Stillwater, this just adds to his growing plate of responsibilities.
The much sought-after Emily St. John Mandel’s (author: Station Eleven) forthcoming novel Exit Party has sparked a fierce bidding war, drawing reportedly 8-10 offers from major studios. Jac Schaeffer (creator: WandaVision) is already attached to showrun and direct the pilot.
Charter, the leading U.S. pay-TV operator, cuts 1200 managers (1% of workforce). This may be a result of their losses in Q2 2025:
12.6M total video customers
↓80K subs since last quarter
On the bright side Charter has reduced its pay TV losses by 80.4% year-over-year, with it losing 408K subs in Q2 2024.
Mini Tidbits:
Comcast’s Versant announces Amanda Cary and Jamie Palatini as their VPs of Communications for entertainment and sports. Cary will lead communications across entertainment brands like USA Networks, Oxygen, E!, Fandango, etc., while Palatini will handle the company’s sports channels.
The creators of CBS’ The Good Wife are back with the network for Cupertino, a legal drama officially greenlit for the 2026-27 TV season. Robert and Michelle King’s new series is set in the heart of Silicon Valley and follows the rise of two attorneys looking to represent those taken advantage of by the major tech elite. The lead of CBS’ Evil Mike Colter is also attached to Cupertino.
CAA’s film and finance division names Sarah Schweitzman as Co-Head of Media Finance. With almost a decade at CAA, Schweitzman has been majorly involved in the sales of films like Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia, Best Picture nominee Conclave, and Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.
With not long now until the premiere of Avatar: Fire and Ash, none other than Miley Cyrus has announced she recorded a new song for the anticipated third installment, which she co-wrote with frequent collaborator Mark Ronson. Avatar: Fire and Ash premieres everywhere Dec. 19th.
Disney has been approved to own a 10% stake in ESPN, merging the NFL Network and RedZone into ESPN Unlimited.
HBO Max has introduced a new user rating feature with “Love,” “Like,” and “Not For Me” options to refine personalized recommendations. The update follows a recent price hike and aims to enhance user control.
Renewals:
HGTV’s House Hunters franchise (400 episode renewal)
Trailers:
Netflix’s Being Eddie (Eddie Murphy doc)
Release: Nov 12
Apple TV+’s Pluribus
Creator: Vince Gilligan
Trailer (we could not be more excited for this one)
Release: Nov 7
Netflix’s Emily in Paris (S5)
Release: Dec 18
First Look:
Amazon MGM’s Crime 101
Release: Feb 13
Release dates:
Netflix’s Koati (animated)
Cast: Sofía Vergara
Release: Nov 13
History Channel’s Modern Marvels: WWII
Release: 2026
Lionsgate’s Mutiny
Cast: Jason Statham
Release: August 21, 2026
Shoot Dates:
Focus Features’ Werwulf
Dir: Robert Eggers
Currently shooting in UK
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Kit Connor is reuniting with his Warfare co-star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai in A Long Winter, a new drama written and directed by Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers).
The film follows a mother who disappears after an argument, sparking a desperate search during a deadly snowstorm.
Connor’s performance in Heartstopper as Nick demonstrated a quiet, empathetic intensity well suited to the kind of character work Haigh favors. His work in Warfare was gritty and measured and shone in his own way, but still worked well in the ensemble.
While Kit’s and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai’s roles are being kept under wraps, it’s exciting to add yet another exciting role for the young actor, who is already preparing to star in Alex Garland’s upcoming Elden Ring Movie and will reprise his role as Nick in Heartstopper Forever.
Now that Stranger Things is coming to a close, Charlie Heaton is switching out aliens for a little romance.
Heaton joins Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) in Twice Over, a coming of age romcom from Athens-based sales and production company Heretic (co. prod: Triangle of Sadness).
A story of “reconnection and emotional reckoning,” the film marks a refreshing turn for Heaton, who (besides his Netflix stardom) has leaned into moody thrillers and grounded indie dramas like Sergio G. Sánchez’s Marrowbone (2017).
Plot details remain undisclosed, yet from what we know, Twice Over seems like the perfect opportunity for Heaton to show a warmth and wit audiences have yet to see from him. Filming is set to begin in Australia before the end of the year.
Laura Linney’s star-crossed diagnosis. Linney (Ozark) stars in the BBC’s new film But When We Dance from director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love).
Linney plays a pianist who discovers she has Parkinson’s on the same day as another man (Rhys Ifans), the head of a local primary school.
No word on whether this turns into a romance, though with Madden directing and his Shakespeare in Love background, we suspect it does.
We love seeing Linney caught between romance and self-destruction in Ozark. In that series, she grapples with the need to protect her children and the need to support the family, which eventually drags her down into drug lord territory with her husband, Marty.
Respected English actress Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) shows that age is but a number as she tackles two very different new roles. HBO and Sky Television’s upcoming prestige legal drama series War casts Imrie alongside a strong ensemble made up of Dominic West and Sienna Miller. Already renewed before the premiere of its first season, the George Kay (creator of Netflix’s Lupin) anthology series follows two rival law firms, with Imrie sure to bring some of her trademark wit to break up a more serious drama.
Imrie is also getting into the holiday spirit with Merry Christmas, Aubrey Flint, a holiday comedy feature that focuses on a painter who not only dislikes people but hates Christmas. Imrie will act alongside Richard E. Grant in the titular role, and while her character has not been revealed, it’s been described as “a chain-smoking former West End diva.” Sounds perfect. Production is currently underway.
Tidbits:
Cameron Diaz is having a Bad Day, and three of comedy’s best are making it worse.
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