Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Javier Bardem Does De Niro, Adam McKay Gets Shanks, and 5th’s Summer of 84.
Let’s go!
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Javier Bardem will star as yet another iconic villain in Apple TV’s series adaptation of Cape Fear, an exciting role given the actor’s long resume filled with unhinged characters.
Synopsis:
In “Cape Fear,” a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda (Amy Adams) and Steve Bowden (Patrick Wilson) when Max Cady (Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.
Both Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese will EP the series.
The latter directed the 1991 version of Cape Fear, which saw Robert De Niro in the ruthless role of Max Cady, a violent convicted rapist seeking vengeance against his former lawyer in the most intelligent and conniving ways.
It’s not often that I think anyone can outdo De Niro, but Bardem’s subtlety when approaching dark, complicated characters may be more effective in elevating the intensity and unpredictability of the twisted Cady in comparison to De Niro’s more over-the-top, wacky, and wild portrayal.
Bardem brings with him the ever-lingering resonance of his Oscar-winning performance as the psychopathic hitman in the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men. It’s a performance that was so impactful that it solidified him as one of cinema’s greatest villains. I still get chills when I think about that character.
Beyond No Country for Old Men, Bardem played Raoul Silva, the most terrifying Bond villain of this century, in Skyfall (2012). His graceful movements and slick veneer made his character’s underlying trauma all the more chilling. Bardem removing his fake teeth to reveal his cyanide-stricken face is one of the most horrific images of a Bond villain of all time.
And in the new trailer, Bardem's maniacalness looks heightened in a way we’ve never quite seen it before, as his typical villains are usually quite composed.
It’s going to be quite a treat when it releases on June 5th.
For More:
Bardem in Apple TV’s Cape Fear trailer, pure unhinged terror.
Cape Fear (1991) trailer. De Niro is the big bad wolf.
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men (2007), gas station scene. Don’t let this man walk around with loose change.
Bardem’s long take scene in Skyfall (2012). Last rat standing.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Sony sets mystery sci-fi comedy w/ Adam McKay & Michael Shanks (dir: Together).
Scream 8 in the works from writers Nora and Lila Zuckerman.
Disney is developing a rom-com buddy comedy, In Real Life.
Billings Productions adapts bestseller The Other Woman for series.
Peppa Pig series names Adam Redfern as showrunner.
Anonymous Content promotes Charnay Mather and Ena Nicole Abadjian.
Hallmark president John Matts exits, and Darren Abbott steps in.
Canneseries lineup announced, including Disney+’s Alice and Steve.
Screen Australia backs 91 projects with $20.4M.
Daryl McCormack cast in Apple TV’s upcoming untitled thriller series.
Author Adele Parks inks TV adaptation deal with Studiocanal.
Happy April Fools! For those who celebrate:
https://theindustry.co/p/april-fools
Yesterday’s correct answer: David Lynch directed Wild at Heart, starring Laura Dern.
91% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Sony picks up a mystery sci-fi comedy from a great team:
Dir/Prod: Adam McKay
Wri: Michael Shanks (dir: Neon’s Together)
Prod Co: McKay’s Hyperobject Industries
Producer: Andrew Mittman (EP: Wednesday)
No plot details, but McKay’s films have, of late, been political satires with a lot of artifice, like breaking the fourth wall. Shanks’ film Together was the opposite, with his body-horror metaphor for codependency, pulling viewers into the screen.
Scream 8 is happening. And that checks out as Paramount’s Scream 7 just completed its 5th weekend at the box office and is already the highest-grossing film in the series of all time with $204M WW (sans inflation).
The script for the 8th film will be written by Nora and Lila Zuckerman (showrunners: Poker Face), who wrote Chloé Zhao’s recently canceled Buffy reboot.
Tidbits:
Disney is moving forward with In Real Life, a new comedy from 13 Going on 30 writers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. The creators behind Netflix’s hit martial arts dramedy Cobra Kai, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald, are also attached to produce via their Counterbalance banner. While plot details have not been disclosed, the series is described as a modern rom-com meets a female buddy comedy.
Billings Productions has optioned the bestseller The Other Woman for series development. The deal continues Billings’ streak of books-to-small-screen adaptations, best known for producing the Prime Video romance series Off Campus. The Other Woman follows the newly in love Emily, whose happy ending gets interrupted by the overstepping of her calculated future mother-in-law.
A federal judge has ruled Trump’s executive order restricting federal funding to NPR and PBS unconstitutional. But the damage is already done; last summer, Congress rescinded all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which dissolved after 58 years. CPB’s funding made up roughly 15% of the PBS budget (prod co: Ken Burns’ The Civil War, Sesame Street).
Peppa Pig series brings on The Adventures of Paddington (2019) scribe as a new showrunner. Adam Redfern has “oinked” a deal with Hasbro to oversee creative direction across the animated series, including content, storytelling, and the overall vision ahead of its ninth season.
Mini Tidbits:
Anonymous Content makes nine, non-anonymous promotions, including Charnay Mather to VP of Dev (upped from Dir of Dev). And Ena Nicole Abadjian to the director of production.
Hallmark Media’s president, John Matts, has been replaced by Darren Abbott. This is just 10 months after Matts took the post. Abbott will now oversee advertising sales, distribution, finance, and research insights.
For the first time in Hard Knocks history, HBO’s NFL series will follow the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, as they prepare for the next season. The 2027 edition will center on their opponent, the New England Patriots, as they attempt to build a second dynasty.
Renewal:
Netflix’s Age of Attraction (for S2)
Trailers:
Amazon MGM’s Masters of the Universe
Cast: Jared Leto, Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba
Release: June 5
A24’s Backrooms
Cast: Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor
Release: May 29
Warner Bros./DC’s Supergirl
Milly Alcock goes John Wick
Release: June 26
Netflix’s Noah Kahan: Out of Body (doc)
Premiere: SXSW 2026
Release: April 13
BritBox’s The Other Bennet Sister
Cast: Richard E. Grant
Release: May 6
Release dates:
Ice Cream Man
Dir: Eli Roth
Release: Aug 7
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender (S2 live-action)
Release: June 25
Fathom Entertainment’s Jimmy (Jimmy Stewart biopic)
Prod Co: Burns & Co.
Cast: KJ Apa as Stewart
Release: Nov 6
HBO’s The Pitt (S2 finale)
Theatrical release at 10x Alamo Drafthouses around the US: April 13
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Daryl McCormack joins Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning in Apple TV’s upcoming untitled thriller series. The Wake Up Dead Man actor will play the reluctant heir of a powerful international conglomerate that puts Fanning, an undercover agent, in a compromising position.
It seems like a role well within McCormack’s range.
He just played the son of a wealthy woman (Kerry Washington) in Wake Up Dead Man, who fancies himself a political influencer but is quite buffoonish in this clip.
Production has not yet started.
Tidbits:
Amazon MGM’s thriller feature Bishop has cast Xavier Samuel (Send Help) as Joel Kinnaman’s younger brother. The show will follow a battle-scarred homicide detective (Kinnaman) who suspects none other than his father is involved in a series of horrifying murders.
From Baltimore to a death cult. Michael Strassner (star and co-writer of IFC’s The Baltimorons) has picked up his next gig, starring in Ruthie Joins A Death Cult. The comedy follows a lonely young woman who tries to make friends by joining a death cult. Currently wrapping production in LA.
Billy Magnussen joins Netflix’s Tires (S3). He will play an ultra alpha entrepreneur. With a myriad of supporting roles in films like Road House (2024) and as the duplicitous CIA agent turned villain in No Time to Die (2021, scene), this seems like a fun fit.
FESTIVALS
The 9th Season of Canneseries dropped its official selection.
In Competition, including:
Disney+’s Alice and Steve
Cast: Nicola Walker, Jemaine Clement
Writer: Sophie Goodhart (7 eps Sex Education)
Synopsis:
Alice is devastated when her best friend Steve (Clement) starts dating her 26-year-old daughter Izzy. She’s going to lose her best friend and her daughter in one fell swoop.
Here’s a full breakdown of the best studio and non-studio projects.
Mini Tidbits:
Screen Australia just backed 91 projects to the tune of $20.4M. Here’s the full breakdown.
TECH SECTION
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are up to no good. Their AI company, Deep Voodoo, is responsible for some of the most creative AI use-cases. Some silly, like deep-faked Trump in the recent South Park episodes.
Others are kind of profound, like Billy Joel’s de-aging and re-aging in his music video Turn the Lights Back On.
It’s a good proof that when you give two genius creators a tool, what you get is less defined by the tool's preconceptions and more unleashed by their boundless imagination.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Every once in a while, a cult gem resurfaces. Enter Liquid Sky (1982), which follows a UFO that lands in Manhattan seeking heroin.
The visuals and costuming are super trippy (trailer).
Sadly, the director, producer, and co-writer Slava Tsukerman has died at 86. Full NY Times obit here.
Nonconforming filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) has set a date for his first English-language film, Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? The true story follows a Vietnam War veteran who becomes a peace activist following the war. With a potential presence at this year’s Venice festival, the film will open in Japanese theaters this September.
The newest BBC drama from British writer Jeff Pope (wri. Philomena) follows the tragic murder of Sarah Everard, a marketing executive who was abused by a London policeman. The untitled series will explore how this officer was able to retain his position for years despite his criminal charges, who has luckily since been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Shortly after his shocking Grey’s Anatomy exit, actor Kevin McKidd’s Ferryman Films has struck a deal with the Glasgow-based STV Studios (Apple TV’s Criminal Record). Ferryman Films will exclusively co-produce STV projects with their first film, an adaptation of the crime novel The Red Shore.
A trio of new projects abounds:
Doc on Cold War in Philly
Bestselling authors deal with Studiocanal
ABC’s children’s book series adaptation
Mini Tidbits:
Italy’s Cinecittà Studios clears $1.2M in profit after lending production services to HBO’s Portobello, Lionsgate’s The Resurrection of the Christ, and Netflix’s Antoine Fuqua/Denzel Washington’s Hannibal film.
Disney+ is continuing its global expansion, striking a streaming deal with Italian broadcaster RAI (Belve). The deal includes Italian scripted and unscripted programming, with shows available for Disney+ customers to stream in Italy the day after they air on RAI.
ON THIS DAY
2025. Val Kilmer dies at 65.
Written by Gabriel Miller and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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