Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Jeremy Strong’s 9/12, George Clooney’s 14, and The Adjustment Bureau.
Let’s go!
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In Succession, Jeremy Strong’s greed to claim his father’s kingdom was remarkable. Now, he will play a character who fights against these very institutions of power in 9/12, a new show for Paramount+.
In 9/12, Strong will portray a class action lawyer who stands up for first responders in the wake of 9/11.
It’s a big character shift for Strong, playing someone so altruistic. He’s had masterful back-to-back characters that have been all shades of slimy.
In Succession, he played the son of media billionaire Logan Roy (Brian Cox). It was a Shakespearean performance that ranged from a sniveling child to a naive tyrant to an out-of-touch scion. And in rare moments, a heroic son (funeral scene “he was a brute”).
And then Strong doubled down on characters that are attracted to the dark sides of power in The Apprentice (2024). He played Roy Cohn, Trump’s longtime lawyer and advisor. Strong’s win-at-all-costs, attack-dog style, is shown to corrupt young Trump.
Strong’s ability to iterate from characters with laser-like focus (The Apprentice) to extreme lack of confidence (Succession) could blend to make his portrayal of the lawyer in 9/12 really compelling.
We’ll see what happens. The 6-part series will shoot next summer and is slated for a 2027 release. Created by Tobias Lindholm (Dir: Netflix’s The Good Nurse) and Frank Pugliese (prod: House of Cards).
For More:
Jeremy Strong’s 3 rules of winning (clip) in The Apprentice.
Strong is also nice in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere as Jeremy Allen White’s caretaker/manager (trailer).
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Warner Bros. Motion Picture chiefs Michael De Luca & Pamela Abdy renew contracts.
Oceans 14 budget approved by Warner Bros.
Fox Entertainment signs first-look deal with HarperCollins imprint Avon A.
Scott Z. Burns exits Netflix’s new Silicon Valley series. He was the showrunner.
Jessica Biel’s Iron Ocean inks a first-look deal with Paramount TV Studios.
Kaley Cuoco’s thriller Vanished sells to MGM+.
Questlove’s latest doc Earth, Wind & Fire lands at HBO.
Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) developing Universal TV’s Alchemy of Secrets.
Air Bud Returns heads to theaters in 2026.
FX names former NBCU exec Allison Rawlings as head of publicity and comms.
Saoirse Ronan will play Linda McCartney in Sam Mendes’ Beatles films.
Taron Egerton to star in dating comedy Everybody Wants to F*ck Me.
Rob Lowe leads NBC’s The Detail, a Secret Service agent drama.
Diamond in the Rough, is a new indie produced by Uri Singer (White Noise).
Cineverse & Bloody Disgusting acquire horror Self-Help.
Ireland introduces a 40% tax credit for film.
The Adjustment Bureau is getting an Indian-language remake.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Paramount, a Skydance Company, still hasn’t made a bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. But it’s looking like, if that bid is made, and if the deal goes through, the WBD CEO, David Zaslav, will leave the company.
Right now, it’s very speculative. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters shot down ideas that they’d make a bid for WBD. And the thinking over in Zaslav’s corner is that the company may be more valuable after it splits.
In more clear-cut news, Warner Bros. Motion Picture chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy have re-upped their contracts with the major studio. After a $4bn box office year so far, the pair is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Oceans 14 is moving forward again… and while this could be a dumpster fire a la Oceans 12 (where the cast treated the set like a playground), I’m hoping that enough time has passed where this could be a rare blockbuster sequel that is both resonant and garners major studio dollars.
Here are the details: https://theindustry.co/p/george-clooney-a-dumpster-fire
Tidbits:
Fox is teaming up with publishing house HarperCollins’ imprint Avon A in a first-look deal. The partnership will include both film and TV adaptations as well as books published through Avon A, based on Fox Entertainment Studios’ properties. It’s a pretty smart deal, given how expansive HarperCollins’ library is, filled with everything from YA to horror.
Remember Netflix’s Silicon Valley series starring Rosamund Pike? Well, the showrunner Scott Z. Burns (writer: Contagion) has exited. K.C. Perry (writer: 1ep Succession) may take his place. This is not to be confused with AMC’s Silicon Valley series created by Jonathan Glatzer (producer/writer: Better Call Saul, Succession).
Actress Jessica Biel’s Iron Ocean production banner signs a first-look deal with Paramount Television Studios. The first project on the agenda is The Ambler Warning, based on the popular spy thriller novel of the same name, with Biel EPing and starring as a CIA Officer who, after a devastating injury, loses her memories. The series is in early production stages.
Vanished, the Kaley Cuoco-led (HBO’s The Flight Attendant) thriller series, has sold to MGM+ for U.S. rights, as well as several international territories. The four-part series from AGC Television (Peacock’s Those About to Die) also stars Peaky Blinders’ Sam Claflin in the France-set mystery story. Vanished is set to premiere in February 2026.
Roots musician Questlove’s Earth, Wind & Fire documentary will air on HBO in 2026. Produced with the Maurice White estate, it explores the band’s legacy through rare archives. Earth, Wind, and Fire to this day has some of the most recognizable Motown songs ever, including September, Boogie Wonderland, and Fantasy. The project follows Questlove’s Oscar-winning documentary debut Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Trailer.
For Universal Television, The Vampire Diaries producer Julie Plec is developing a drama series based on Alchemy of Secrets, published this week to rave reviews. The story follows a woman who was informed that she’ll die the next day unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.
More Tidbit:
The long-running family franchise bounces back with Air Bud Returns, a 2026 theatrical sequel from writer-director Robert Vince. I don’t know if you need me to rehash this timeless tale of a dog who can play basketball. The film follows a grieving boy who befriends a basketball-playing golden retriever. Produced by Cineverse and Air Bud Entertainment. No word yet on if the original star will reprise his role. (Sorry, y'all, that's a dark joke.)
Prime Video’s psychological thriller The Girlfriend (trailer) has surpassed 25M viewers globally, sustaining its spot as Amazon UK’s number one scripted series. Starring Robin Wright (The Princess Bride) and Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon), the six-part limited series has continued to grow worldwide, joining Amazon’s lengthening list of successful original series.
Angel Studios, in a partnership with 2521 Entertainment (Angel’s The King of Kings) has acquired 100% of David (trailer), an animated feature from Slingshot USA. With $78M being put in for the IP, the biblical story will get a theatrical release on Dec. 19th.
FX brings on Allison Rawlings, a former NBCU exec, as its new head of publicity and communications. She brings over a decade of experience with her as she transitions into the new role in November.
Oscar-winning documentarian Allie Light has passed away at 90. Her film In the Shadow of the Stars (1991), which she directed, produced, and edited, explored the untold stories of opera chorus singers celebrating performers who live just outside of the spotlight.
Renewals:
Paramount+’s Dexter: Resurrection (for S2)
Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers (for S3)
Trailers:
Neon’s No Other Choice
Dir: Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden)
Premiere: Venice
One of my favorite foreign films of the year
Release date: Dec 25
Netflix’s Train Dreams
Dir: Clint Bentley (co-writer: Sing Sing)
Theatrical release date: Nov 7
Streaming release: Nov 21
Sony Pictures Classics’ Nuremberg
Come for Russell Crowe’s best performance in a decade, stay for Leo Woodall’s show-stopping monologue
Release: Nov 7
Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man
Release: Oct 24
Dread’s Dorthea (horror)
Buy/rent: Nov 4
HBO’s I Love LA
Star/Creator: Rachel Sennott
Release: Nov 2
DreamWorks TV’s The Bad Guys (series)
Netflix Release: Nov 6
Hulu’s All’s Fair
Star: Kim Kardashian & Sarah Paulson
Creator: Ryan Murphy
Release: Nov 4
Kino Lorber’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Premiere: TIFF, NYFF
Release: Nov 5 (NY), Nov 14 (LA)
Prime’s Playdate
Cast: Kevin James and Alan Ritchson
Release: Nov 12
First Look:
John Lithgow as Dumbledore in HBO’s Harry Potter series. First look.
Release dates:
Universal’s Merrily We Roll Along
Dir: Richard Linklater
Release: 2041 (it’s being shot over the next 15 years)
Prod Co: Blumhouse
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Saoirse Ronan has joined Sam Mendes’ four-film event Beatles biopic.
Paul Mescal stars as Paul McCartney, and Ronan will play his wife and muse, Linda McCartney. Linda, a musician herself, performed with her husband across many of his post-Beatle projects, most famously being a founding member of Wings (Clip).
Sadly, she died of cancer in 1998.
Ronan brings a certain charm and level-headedness that grounded Paul during his whirlwind fame. Ronan is also a singer, having sung on film (Mary Queen of Scots) and more recently in Steve McQueen’s Winter Coat (Clip).
Mendes’ project, sanctioned by the Beatles’ estates, will release theatrically in April 2028 as an interconnected quartet with each told from one band member’s perspective.
It is gearing up to be a truly capital E Event movie.
Taron Egerton’s The Materialists.
Egerton stars in the dating comedy Everybody Wants To F*ck Me with Jessica Henwick (Glass Onion). Not much word on the plot, but it’s set in “the world of modern dating.”
Egerton has niched down hard into psychologically intense roles. Just watch him go haywire in Smoke, or lose his mind in Black Bird. So we’re excited for him to do something lighter.
And wouldn’t you know it, someone put together a full YouTube video of press clips of Egerton being funny. We knew he had it in him.
A great team of companies is behind this film: Studiocanal, Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap, Film4, and Parkville Pictures. Shooting in November.
Tidbits:
Rewarded for good behavior, Charlie Sheen has re-signed with WME in all areas except speaking engagements, following renewed success with his memoir The Book of Sheen and Netflix doc, aka Charlie Sheen. He reached a high point of tiger-blooded infamy in the late 2010s but has been sober since 2017. Could this be a kind of RDJ career resurgence?
Rob Lowe will star in The Detail, an NBC drama about elite Secret Service agents protecting the U.S. president. Created by Jennifer Yee McDevitt (Over the Moon), the Universal Television project marks Lowe’s return to NBC since Parks and Recreation. Lowe has had a long and storied career, and whether it's in film or television, drama or comedy, he’s always a great get.
The lead of Netflix’s All American, Daniel Ezra, joins the streamer’s upcoming crime series All the Sinners Bleed in a recurring role. Ezra first became known for portraying the rising high school football star navigating class divides and familial tension in All-American, which, soon after its drop, became a major sleeper hit for the streamer. His new series follows his father (played by Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) in pursuit of catching a serial killer as the first Black sheriff in a conservative Catholic town. In another coming-of-age role, Ezra will be taking on a much darker and harrowing story in his second go with Netflix.
Mini Tidbits:
Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space) will produce and star in Rush, a WWII action drama from Jake Van Wagoner (Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out). Set during Operation Dragoon, it follows an Allied soldier, a captured German, and an orphaned French girl navigating survival behind enemy lines. Currently in production.
Fox’s biblical drama series The Faithful announces its cast for its third installment. The Walking Dead’s Tom Payne will return as the clever Jacob alongside new additions like Taylor Napier (The Wheel of Time) and Will Stevens (Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club). The Faithful drops in March 2026.
Chicago native Ron Dean (Frasier) has passed away with almost 100 credits to his name. He iconically played Emilio Estevez’s dad in John Hughes’ cult classic The Breakfast Club, was opposite Tom Cruise in Risky Business (1983), and even played a police officer in The Dark Knight (2008). He will be remembered by his remarkable body of work in film and television.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
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