James Cameron's Fairy Tale
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
James Cameron after Avatar. Disney cuts. A24’s Major Players.
Let’s go!
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The film premiered at Cannes. More info here.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
James Cameron’s next project is The Devils, a dark-fairy tale.
Disney cuts hundreds of jobs, with many coming from Disney Entertainment.
Shari Redstone nominates three new members to the Paramount board.
Amazon MGM wins Split Fiction starring Sydney Sweeney.
Mattel merges film & TV into Mattel Studios.
Focus Features drops Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale trailer.
Andrew Scott joins Michelle Williams & Daisy Edgar-Jones in A Place in Hell.
Prime’s Carrie series casts Summer Howell & Samantha Sloyan as the iconic mother-daughter duo.
Cobie Smulders joins The Lincoln Lawyer S4 at Netflix.
A24 boards Major Players, the first drama series from Molly Manning Walker (dir: How to Have Sex).
Lightdox acquires Welded Together (premiere: Sheffield DocFest).
Netflix acquires US rights for Families Like Ours (dir: Thomas Vinterberg).
Netflix & Pablo Larraín team up for My Sad Dead.
beIN renews multi-year Sony deal across MENA.
The film premiered at Cannes. More info here.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
James Cameron's post-Avatar 3 project? The Devils’ (in the details). Cameron has signaled that he will be adapting James Abercrombie's (writer: 3 episodes Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots) novel The Devils, a co-writing collaboration.
The story, which made its debut last month, is a neo-fairy tale that follows a team of monsters tasked with saving Europe from flesh-eating elves.
Feels like a medieval Suicide Squad, but appropriately weird for Cameron as he tries to rub the blue out of his eyes.
Disney cuts 100s of jobs. Here are the departments and a couple of the key fires:
Disney Entertainment
Marketing (Film & TV)
TV Publicity
Casting
Eric Souliere, VP Casting for 20th Television
Development
Tony Tompson, VP Content Development at Hulu Originals
Corporate Financial Operations
Disney has experienced a whirlwind of layoffs, cutting 300 people in its Corporate Operations last September and laying off 14% of its Pixar staff last summer. While downsizing, Disney had remarkable growth in Q1 2025 results, posting $10.68bn in entertainment revenue (↑ 9% Disney+, Hulu + Linear) and $1.26bn entertainment operating profit (↑ 61%).
Shari Redstone (owner: Paramount Global’s Parent company) nominates three board members:
Mary Boies (attorney, CBS’s VP of Corporate in the 1980s)
Roanne Sragow Licht (former judge)
Charles Ryan (venture capitalist and former business partner of the Redstones)
Shari will need all the support possible if she ends up settling the Trump 60 Minutes lawsuit to help push through the Skydance acquisition, which will lead to her getting paid out $1.75bn.
Election of these new board members takes place July 2nd.
Amazon MGM wins Split Fiction, a film adaptation of the hit co-op fantasy sci-fi video game, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Jon M. Chu (Wicked) and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool & Wolverine).
Split Fiction, Hazelight Studios’ new game, has only been out for a bit over two months, but it’s been optioned to a bidding war between studios, of which it appears Amazon has won. It follows two writers thrust into a virtual reality that makes their stories a reality.
It’s now Mattel Studios. The toy company Mattel, behind the billion-dollar Barbie film and the upcoming toy adaptations (Whac-A-Mole, View Master, Matchbox), has merged its Film and TV divisions to create Mattel Studios.
Robbie Brenner, the president of Mattel Films, will become the President and Chief Content Officer of Mattel Studios. Previously, she rose through the ranks at Miramax and later at Relativity Media.
Jennifer Breslow will become the head of TV. Former CAA agent Darian Lanzetta (and producer of a music video I made in college) will become a Senior Executive of Film.
Mini Tidbit:
Hallmark Media has promoted its CFO, John Matts, to president. After three years with the company, Matts will now oversee advertising sales, distribution, finance, and research insights.
Management and production company 3 Arts Entertainment is expanding in sports by acquiring A&A Management Group. A&A specializes in athlete representation while 3 Arts, majorly owned by Lionsgate, has managed high-profile talent in film and TV and has produced shows like Hacks and The Office.
Trailers:
Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Release Date: Sept 12th
Renewals:
CW’s All American (for 8th and final season)
Release date:
Republic Pictures’ Trust
Cast: Sophie Turner (GOT)
Release date: Aug 22nd
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Andrew Scott is joining Michelle Williams and Daisy Edgar-Jones in the new legal thriller A Place in Hell.
Written and directed by Fairplay (2023) director Chloe Domont, her sophomore feature is said to follow two women at a high-profile criminal law firm produced by Rian Johnson’s T-Street.
While Scott’s role has not yet been announced, he’s had a taste of some high-profile crimes from his award-winning performance as conman Tom Ripley in the Netflix noir thriller miniseries Ripley (trailer). A Place in Hell has just started production.
Prime Video's Carrie series announces it's cast: Based on Steven King's twice-adapted horror film about bullying the wrong person, Prime has plans for an 8-episode series starring Summer Howell and Samantha Sloyan as the feuding mother-daughter duo, but we also have the full cast, including:
Carrie White = Summer Howell (Curse of Chucky)
Margaret White = Samantha Sloyan (The Fall of the House of Usher)
Principal Grayle = Matthew Lillard (Five Nights at Freddy’s)
Chris Hargensen = Alison Thornton (Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce)
Emaline = Thalia Dudek (The Running Man)
Sue Snell = Siena Agudong (Sidelined: The QB and Me)
Currently in production.
Mini Tidbit:
How I Met Your Mother’s Cobie Smulders is channeling her dramatic chops by joining The Lincoln Lawyer’s upcoming fourth season at Netflix. Production is currently underway on the new 10-episode season of the lawyer drama.
The film premiered at Cannes. More info here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / FESTIVALS
A24 is dusting off their cleats, boarding Major Players, the first drama series from How to Have Sex director Molly Manning Walker.
The coming-of-age story is inspired by Walker’s own experience, set to follow two girls on the brink of adulthood and their mission to start a women’s soccer team. Walker described Major Players as:
“A love letter to football and a funny and wild exploration of young people in London today, tackling topics from friendship to gender politics.”
Walker is undoubtedly best known for her debut feature, How to Have Sex (trailer), which won the Cannes Un Certain Regard award two years ago. The film dealt with similar themes to Walker’s newest venture as it followed three young women relying completely on their friendships to guide them through major life changes.
The upcoming A24 series is set for distribution by Channel 4 and is currently in pre-production.
Lightdox (distributor: As the Tide Comes In) has picked up Welded Together. The project is produced by BBC’s Storyville.
Synopsis:
A young welder's solitary life changes when she must care for her half-sister, forcing her to confront childhood trauma and choose between personal dreams and newfound family bonds.
Premiering at Sheffield DocFest, kicking off June 18th
Netflix snags the US rights for Families Like Ours, a TV series by director Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round, The Hunt, The Celebration).
Synopsis:
In a not-too-distant future, Denmark faces total evacuation due to rising water levels. As the nation prepares to leave their homes, high school student Laura must choose between her divorced parents and the boy she's fallen in love with.
Streaming June 10th
The film premiered at Cannes. More info here.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Netflix and acclaimed Chilean director Pablo Larraín (Spencer) continue their partnership with My Sad Dead, a drama-horror mini-series based on a short story of the same name.
This will be Larraín’s first project since the Angelina Jolie-led musical biopic Maria (2024) for Netflix, which rounded out the director’s trilogy of films, each following a notable female figure in history.
My Sad Dead synopsis:
A reclusive doctor with supernatural abilities faces a disruption when her young niece visits, bringing a different and more intense approach to their shared gift of communicating with spirits.
Filming is set to begin in Buenos Aires and Chile by the end of the month.
Tidbits:
Qatari-owned entertainment network, beIN Media Group has renewed a multi-year content agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) for exclusive content rights across the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey. The extension builds on their 2021 deal, giving beIN first look privileges at SPE’s film slate following theatrical releases.
Thai production company Mbrella Films (Hellbound) just had a significant portion of its stake acquired by Friday Industries. Appeal for Thailand as a diverse production destination has been steadily rising, making this a great partnership for both companies, as Mbrella will be able to package tax rebate financing and MGs.
Australian streamer Stan has acquired several buzzy titles at LA Screenings. Some of these shows include spinoff series Outlander: Blood of My Blood, the drama mini series The Miniature Wife, and a Jon Hamm-led series adaptation American Hostage.
Gkids has acquired North American rights to Shin Godzilla, the acclaimed 2016 reboot from Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. Featuring a 4K remaster and restored subtitles, the film hits U.S. theaters August 14. Trailer here.
ON THIS DAY
2001. Six Feet Under premieres on HBO.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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