Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Diane Keaton RIP, JGL’s AI, and H is for Hawk.
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La-di-da.
Beloved actress and Hollywood icon Diane Keaton has passed away at 79. From my very first viewing of The Godfather to my annual holiday watch of The Family Stone with my mom, Diane Keaton as an actress had an unmatched presence, a comforting constant through stories that shaped who I am.
In the bittersweet Annie Hall (1977, scene), Keaton’s portrayal of a neurotic but endlessly charming New York comedian became her true breakout, earning her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
In The Godfather trilogy, she brought a quiet strength to the morally haunted Kay Adams. In the very last scene of the film, Kay looks back at her husband, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), and in one silent stare, she embodies the suffocating realization that defines the tragedy of the entire saga (scene).
With her signature wide-brimmed hats, neck-tied blouses, and unapologetic individuality, Keaton became Hollywood’s mom, yet still always effortlessly cool. She played the patient counterbalance to Steve Martin in the Father of the Bride (1991), the well-intentioned but meddling mom in Because I Said So (2007), and the warm but terminally ill matriarch in the ensemble holiday film The Family Stone (2005).
For over five decades, she was as captivating in comedy, Something’s Gotta Give (scene), as she was commanding in drama, bringing heart, humor, and authenticity to every role she touched.
In Warren Beatty’s historical drama Reds (1981), Keaton illustrates a distinct shift from domestic normalcy to relentless determination, taking both her life and career into her own hands. This scene is just another example of Keaton expressing deep inner conflict with no words at all, her expressive eyes and restrained voice perfectly capture the weight of uncertainty that lies ahead.
Upon hearing the news of her passing, Goldie Hawn shared:
“You stole the hearts of the world and shared your genius with millions, making films that made us laugh and cry in ways only you could.”
Bette Midler:
“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star.”
Watch Midler, Hawn, and Keaton in the iconic The First Wives Club scene.
Jane Fonda:
“Limitlessly creative in her acting, her wardrobe, her books, her friends… Unique is what she was. And, though she didn’t know it or wouldn’t admit it, man she was a fine actress!”
Keaton redefined what it meant to be a leading lady, completely fracturing the mold. She was never afraid to look foolish, never overly polished, and always, unmistakably, herself.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Netflix acquires Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s AI thriller starring Rachel McAdams.
Warner Bros. Discovery rejects Paramount’s $20/share bid.
Marvel gets meta with Wonder Man starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
Lionsgate developing YA series The Inheritance Games.
AMC Networks extends CEO Kristin Dolan’s contract through 2028.
New Line fast-tracks Mortal Kombat III.
Lady Gaga joins The Devil Wears Prada sequel.
This City Is Ours (S2) adds Money Heist star Álvaro Morte.
Megan Fox cast in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
Denis O’Hare joins Netflix’s The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Anna Sawai and Aimee Lou Wood in talks to play Yoko Ono and Pattie Boyd in Sam Mendes’ The Beatles biopics.
Dean Norris joins Elastic Hearts.
H Is for Hawk acquired by Roadside Attractions.
Original Alien co-writer Walter Hill has written a new Alien film for Sigourney Weaver.
Sky secures UK/Ireland rights to A24 & Peacock’s Crystal Lake prequel series.
MIPCOM kicks off with AGC’s Embassy (Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons).
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Netflix acquires the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-directed untitled AI thriller.
Rian Johnson’s T-Street Productions produces. Rachel McAdams is attached, replacing Anne Hathaway. The script was co-written by Gordon-Levitt and Kieran Fitzgerald (Wormwood, Fallout), with a story contribution from Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll).
Netflix has collaborated with T-Street on all the Knives Out movies.
The project also marks a continued collaboration between Gordon-Levitt and Johnson, who first teamed up as lead actor and director on the 2005 cult classic Brick and later Looper:
Johnson also nabbed a special thanks credit on JGL’s directorial debut:
Don Jon (2013)
$39.4M worldwide
$3M budget
This is an exciting return to form for Johnson and a big step for JGL.
Warner Bros. Discovery rejects Paramount’s bid to acquire the company. Over the weekend, Paramount, a Skydance Company run by David Ellison, tried to buy WBD for $20/share. This would have put WBD’s valuation at $49.5bn. WBD board rejected the bid, hoping to get more per share (some had anticipated they’d get $22-$24/share).
Sources say Paramount will be back with a stronger offer.
If this comes to fruition, this would 3x the value of Paramount.
The bid would be 70-80% cash, with backing from Skydance CEO David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison (net worth: $393bn).
Even Marvel is feeling superhero fatigue, but they are being cute about it.
Marvel’s Wonder Man series, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as struggling (non superpowered?) actor Simon Williams, is getting meta with it. “Everyone is tired of superheroes,” they say it right in the trailer.
With the premise being reclusive director Kovacs (Zlatko Buric) seeking to… reboot a beloved B movie and breathe life into a dying franchise.
Hell, the trailer looks charming, full of insider baseball film industry tropes that could serve it well, bolstered by the always funny actor turned terrorist turned actor Trevor (Ben Kingsley). I think the push is needed, right now, I don’t think audiences are really chomping at the bit for a deconstruction of the superhero genre.
But maybe January will hit that sweet spot as a nice amuse-bouche before Spiderman and Doomsday. Check out the trailer here.
Tidbits:
Lionsgate’s games. Bestselling YA series The Inheritance Games is in development as a series with Lionsgate Television and Temple Hill Entertainment (Twilight, The Fault in Our Stars). The five books follow a high schooler who is mysteriously left the entire fortune of a billionaire she doesn’t know.
AMC Networks’ CEO Kristin Dolan has extended her contract through 2028. The longtime TV exec was first given the title in 2023, where she primarily focused on company partnerships and creating original programming (like The Walking Dead) for Netflix. Under her new contract, Dolan will continue to oversee the company’s multiple global cable networks and streaming services (AMC+, Acorn TV).
New Line is already planning Mortal Kombat III even before the sequel’s release. Due to overwhelming internal excitement, writer Jeremy Slater announced the third film at New York Comic-Con and is expected to return. Though the good news comes with a bit of a delay, Mortal Kombat II is now set to debut on May 15, 2026. Once again, this is another movie propelled forward due to a strong trailer reception, after it broke Redband viewership records.
Amazon is working with Paris Hilton and her 11:11 Media banner on Aught to Be, a new half-hour romcom series. Told through early 2000s pop culture and music, the show will follow the love story of a couple, with each episode exploring a key memory in their relationship.
Renewals:
Marvel’s X-Men ’97 (for S2)
S2 releasing Summer 2026
Paramount+’s Yellowjackets (for S4, final season)
Cancellations:
Prime’s Butterfly
Starring Daniel Dae Kim
Cancelled after S1
Prime’s Countdown
Cancelled after S1
Trailers:
Peacock’s All Her Fault
Cast: Sarah Snook, Dakota Fanning, Michael Peña, Jay Ellis
Release: Nov 6
DreamWorks Animation and Netflix’s Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (S4)
Release: Nov 20
Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test
EP: James Wan
Release: Dec 7
Paramount+’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Guest star/Co-star: Paul Giamatti, Holly Hunter
Release: Jan 15
Prime’s Invincible (S4)
Voice cast: Lee Pace
Release: March 2026
Hunger Strike Breakfast
Prod Co: M Films (Sundance 2023’s Slow)
Nothing To See Here: Watts (doc)
Release dates:
Amazon MGM’s The Sheep Detectives
Previous title: Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie
Release date: May 8, 2026 (previously: Nov 13, 2026)
Cast: Hugh Jackman
Marvel’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (S2, animation)
Release: Fall 2026
DC’s Batman: Knightfall (Multi-part animated film)
Release: 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Lady Gaga joins The Devil Wears Prada sequel in an undisclosed role alongside returning cast, including Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Gaga recently came off a cameo role in Wednesday and a new album.
She blew us away with her surprisingly vulnerable role in A Star Is Born. More acting from Gaga is always a plus; this also happens to play to her avant-garde fashion tastes.
Two more potential Beatle wives, Anna Sawai (Shogun) and Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus) are in talks to play Yoko Ono and Pattie Boyd, respectively, joining Sam Mendes’ ambitious four-part Beatles biopic series for Sony Pictures.
Yoko Ono is almost infamous for her impact on the Beatles and this. Pattie Boyd, George Harrison’s wife, was also the muse behind Eric Clapton’s hit song Layla.
Mendes’ interconnected films will chronicle each Beatle’s perspective on the band’s meteoric rise and breakup, premiering theatrically in April 2028.
American Horror Story’s Denis O’Hare has been cast in The Last Mrs. Parrish, a Netflix thriller directed by Robert Zemeckis starring opposite Jennifer Lopez in the titular role. The film, based on the bestselling novel by Liv Constantine, follows a woman who infiltrates the life of a wealthy socialite to exact revenge.
While O’Hare’s role details remain undisclosed, he’s delivered really commanding supporting performances in films like Milk (2008) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013), making this an interesting casting.
Mini Tidbits:
BBC’s This City is Ours (S2) adds Álvaro Morte (The Professor in Money Heist). He will play a member of the Colombian cartel who is seeking vengeance. It’s a great turn for Morte, who was magnetic in Money Heist as a didactic, ingenious mastermind. We’ll see if he can bring ruthlessness and heart to this series. Production has just started.
Brittany O’Grady (White Lotus S1) joins Jumanji 4. No word on role or even plot of the film, but O’Grady was excellent as Sydney Sweeney’s catty friend in White Lotus S1, who dips into a bit of pleasure with one of the hotel staff. Watch her navigate Sweeney’s ire (clip). Jumanji 4 shoots in November.
Dean Norris double-casting. After Breaking Bad’s Norris (Hank) was cast last week in Coyote, he joins another film, Elastic Hearts. Cole Sprouse and Darby Lee-Stack (The Holdovers) lead the cast of Milad Schwartz Avaz’s U.S. debut. Shooting wrapped yesterday.
Let’s party! Blumhouse’s anticipated Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel casts Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body) as Toy Chica, one of the horror franchise’s greatest antagonists and toy animatronics. FNAF 2 premieres in theaters Dec. 5th.
Solly McLeod (Tom Jones) joins Marc Forster’s Anxious People, co-starring Angelina Jolie and Aimee Lou Wood (White Lotus). The ensemble comedy drama follows a botched bank robbery that traps strangers together on Christmas Eve. Filming in London, this marks Pinewood’s new Indie Film Hub’s first production.
Raúl Castillo (Army of the Dead) has joined AMC’s The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3. The series continues to follow Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) navigating post-apocalyptic Manhattan. No stranger to Zombies, Raúl is a great addition to the show.
Kai Luke Brummer (Moffie) joins Prime Video’s Bloodaxe as Strut-Harald, brother to Bloodaxe’s wife, Gunnhild (Jessica Madsen). The Viking drama from Michael and Horatio Hirst stars Xavier Molyneux as Erik Bloodaxe, exploring power, betrayal, and war in medieval Norway. Currently in production.
Just last July, original Passion of the Christ actor Jim Caviezel was anticipating returning to the role, and director Mel Gibson was talking about de-aging, but it seems that decision was reversed, Caviezel is out, and once again Gibson is seeking a new Jesus. There were apparently scheduling conflicts and concerns about the VFX work needed. Lionsgate is still barreling forward and will release the two-part film in 2027; Part One on Good Friday (March 26) and Part Two on Ascension Day (May 6).
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Subscribe to see the full breakdown of:
America’s largest doc festival, DOC NYC. Includes a new film from the director of HBO’s wild Class Action Park
MIPCOM, with new projects starring Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Elizabeth Banks, and Matthew Macfadyen
Roadside’s Oscar buy
Why Sigourney Weaver might return to Alien. And the Tarantino connection
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