Josh Brolin Funny Man, Robert Pattinson Space Man
Josh Brolin Funny Man, Robert Pattinson Space Man
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
(I went to the A24 offices for a screening of a great film yesterday and met the cast and the director. Back again today for an interview. More to come in tomorrow’s edition!)
In The Industry News, we look at the weight of Richard Gadd’s big deal. Netflix and Reece Witherspoon get a little Shakespearian, and Amazon’s Beast Games goes sideways.
Actor Spotlight: The Many Deaths of Robert Pattinson, Josh Brolin Gets to be Funny Again, and William Fichtner Vampire Hunter.
In Festival News, We celebrate the student Academy Awards. Who will be the next Spike Lee?
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight, Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, is really killer and a psychedelic toad.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Richard Gadd Holds all the cards: Straight after Baby Reindeer took home six Emmys, Netflix's CEO Ted Sarandos announced the streamer had inked a first-look deal with Gadd. This is despite (or in spite of) the $170 Million dollar defamation lawsuit hanging over that partner’s head.
Gadd, for his part, is flourishing. Aside from the Emmy wins, he also has an HBO-produced project called Lions in the works.
Richard Gadd is one of the rawest storytellers we have at the moment, and no matter what happens, Netflix seems to have his back, both legally and otherwise.
The Sims movie is happening. Here are the details:
Producer: Margot Robbie's LuckyChap (Barbie)
Studio: Amazon MGM
Director: Kate Herron (Loki, Sex Education)
Writer: Herron & Briony Redman (Dr. Who)
With the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), which made $1.4 bn, and the upcoming Minecraft movie, which is headlined by Jack Black and Jason Mamoa, there is a market for these blockbuster video game adaptations.
Will the filmmakers make a self-referential joke about the universal feeling of godhood when removing ladders from a pool and watching your Sims swim over and over until they finally drown?
C'mon, we all did it once.
Baz Luhrmann’s next film is Jehanne d’Arc with Warner Bros. The character Joan of Arc has been depicted many times onscreen, and the director, known for taking on overly ambitious stories in a colorful way, is looking to make a statement and give his take.
Jehanne is described as:
An epic story about Joan of Arc, the young French peasant who believed god had sent her to lead an army. She believed she would save her country during the Hundred Years War.
Casting for Luhrmann’s film take on the French heroine is currently underway.
Netflix is turning NYT bestseller Twelfth Knight into a feature film after being sold by Reece Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine.
The contemporary reimagining of William Shakespeare’s classic play is about:
“taking up space in the world and learning what it means to let others in.”
The Reece-approved story follows a young teen gamer who strongly disdains the boy who beat her out for class president until they unexpectedly and unknowingly bond over their shared love for the same game.
The YA coming-of-age romcom novel was published earlier this summer, and its screenplay is being penned by Ilana Wolpert, the writer behind Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s $220 M grossing movie, Anyone But You (2023).
The author, Alexene Farol Follmuth, also wrote the popular fantasy series The Atlas Six (2020).
Tidbits:
Amazon’s Beast Games goes sideways. When Amazon Studios, which partnered with MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, the top YouTuber with 234M subs, with a $5M payout to the top prize winner, they weren’t expecting a class action lawsuit.
But that’s what happens when you empower a DIY YouTuber with God-like powers to have his way with 1000 contestants. By the NY Times account, the conditions were rough… much rougher than you might anticipate watching his wild competition videos ($456K Squid Game in Real Life, 100 Days Trapped win 500K). Amazon reportedly signed a near $100M deal for an unscripted Mr. Beast competition show.
Paramount Advertising is taking major cuts towards 15% of its employees, eliminating 2000 jobs across properties like CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and more.
This is just ahead of the deal with Skydance and its partner Redbird Capital Partners, which is expected to go through in early 2025. Paramount is looking to eliminate $500 M in annual costs, with the advertising president John Halley, announcing the layoffs in a memo stating:
“Today is going to be a difficult day as this process will affect our org and we will be parting ways with talented and valued teammates and friends.”
Disney, Pixar, BBC, Warner Bros Discovery, CNN, Paramount Global, Universal Music Group, and countless other companies have cut hundreds, if not more, employees since the start of the summer.
Max gets procedural. They are now developing a cop show. Here’s the official synopsis:
Legendary FBI agent who returns to her hometown on Long Island to clean up mob corruption and quickly finds that the rot is even deeper and darker than she thought. Before long, she finds herself facing down nefarious entities from all sides.
HBO’s CEO and Chairman Casey Bloys discussed the strategy shift:
“I think a good template for a Max drama would be what John Wells is doing with The Pitt (ER-like healthcare show) which is, for lack of a better word, network drama, ongoing, close-end storytelling done at a price that is reasonable,”
Filmmakers Liz Garbus (Dir/Prod: What Happened, Miss Simone?) Dan Cogan (EP: The Invitation) are producing the project through their company Story Syndicate (Netflix’s Harry & Meghan).
MGM+ is going in a different direction, with the experienced Kelly Hughes being brought on as a new head of marketing, overseeing brand, media, and program marketing for the network’s originals. Hughes has previously worked as VP in both the Peacock and Netflix consumer & content marketing departments having overseen the strategic marketing campaigns behind shows like Peacock’s Bel-Air and Poker Face and Ozark, Stranger Things, and Queer Eye for Netflix.
Looking to establish its footprint in both scripted and unscripted television development, Macro Television Studios has added Jordanna Guarino, Blumhouse's former SVP of Programming, and Jean Shi, Fremantle NA’s former SVP, to run scripted/unscripted television development.
Up next for Macro, is the Apple TV+ series, Government Cheese, starring Selma’s (2014) David Oyelowo currently in its post production stage.
Angel Studios is becoming a public company valued at $1.6 billion. Their film Sound of Freedom (2023) was the top-grossing indie film of the year ($250 M WW).
David Handelman, long-time Aaron Sorkin collaborator, passed away at 63. His list of credits is formidible:
The Newsroom (2012)
Story Editor
The West Wing (2002 - 2003)
Staff writer
Sports Night (1999 - 2000)
Writer
Dig into his amazing life here. He will be missed.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
The Many Deaths of Robert Pattinson. In the much-delayed next film of Bong Joon-Ho (dir: Parasite), Robert Pattinson is a space monkey who gets sent on a multitude of interstellar assignments, from ice cage spelunking on an alien-filled planet to spaceship repairs.
He dies. But that’s okay becuase he’s getting printed again and again and again.
Here’s the trailer.
People that have seen the film have been commented about his tweety bird esque voice and I will say, that hearing it now its a bit odd but doesn’t feel like too big a concern. I like the idea of degradation of the human spirit through repetition as a grand metaphor for life. Worked well in Groundhog Day, not too many other films nail it.
Jong-Hoo is a master of cinema and Pattinson’s fatigue is palpable.
Warner Bros. is releasing on January 31st.
Josh Brolin Gets to be Funny Again: In Brothers, Brolin heads a huge cast including Peter Dinklage who plays his younger brother trying to bring him back into the crime life for one last job.
From the trailer alone, this looks hilarious. There's plenty of slapstick and hijinx.
You really see the heart poking through.
Maybe more surprisingly, Josh Brolin seems to allow himself to be a bit of the butt of the joke, causing a bit of whiplash to those who have seen him recently play quite a gambit of stoic roles like the Mad Titan Thanos and Gurney Halleck in Dune.
Even in his most recent comedy Deadpool 2 he played Cable as more of a stoic straight man to Deadpool's unending quips. Though it's been a while since Brolin played someone without a permanent scowl he actually got his big break in the adventure comedy the Goonies, and did an excellent Tommy Lee Jones impression as his younger version in Men in Black 3.
Brothers is scheduled to be released in select theaters in the United States on October 10, 2024, before debuting on Amazon Prime Video on October 17, 2024. Brendan Fraser, Marisa Tomei, and Glenn Close also star.
William Fichtner Vampire Hunter. Okay that’s not the title of this new show but I wish it were. Fichtner has been tapped to play a key role in AMC’s Talmasca.
Here’s the logline:
The men and women responsible for tracking and containing the witches, vampires, and other creatures scattered around the globe.
Fichtner’s role:
A mysterious American who has quietly assumed control and influence over the Talamasca’s London Motherhouse. Though his motives and methods are cloaked in shadow, his charm and righteous sense of purpose are as dangerous as the power he’s pursuing.
What that quite means, I’m not sure, but his righteous sense of purpose is on full display in The Dark Knight (2008) as the Bank Manager with a sawed-off shotgun (Clip.)
The series was greenlit back in June, but there is no word on the production start date.
Who does one play after Oppenheimer? That’s what must have been going through Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy’s head after he played the renowned father of the bomb. His next film is Small Things Like These, which opened at the Berlinale. He plays a passive working-class father in Ireland.
The performance is reserved and understated but smoldering with sensitivity.
Here’s the official synopsis:
In 1985, devoted father and Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers shocking truths of his own.
Here’s the trailer. Lionsgate is releasing in the US on November 8th.
Tidbits:
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