Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Netflix’s Lilly, WBD’s Snub, and a Tangle.
Let’s go!
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I sat down with Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winner Patricia Clarkson (House of Cards, Shutter Island, The Station Agent) to discuss her latest film Lilly.
Clarkson plays real-life hero Lilly Ledbetter, who won a landmark case against her employer, Goodyear, that led to the Fair Pay Act of 2009.
What’s remarkable in the film is that Clarkson plays Lilly throughout seven different periods in her life, from her early 40s to late 70s. And instead of becoming more feeble, she becomes more fortified.
Clarkson shared:
“Lilly came alive in her sixties and seventies. I mean, she really did. She became a powerhouse. And so I had to make sure that even though I was a slightly older woman, she was still unbeatable.”
In the film, Clarkson spars with just about everyone who gets in her way, but the most remarkable moments come when, after winning a hard-fought victory in a court case, the decision is reversed. Then she dips into the bowls of self-doubt.
Clarkson shared:
“Just because you’re playing someone that has strived to change our country, our world, the rights of women in a workplace, and succeeded… you can’t play that. You still have to just be a human being.”
Clarkson continued:
“She’s a rather reserved, quiet woman. And with a tremendous amount of quiet strength. And that often isn’t showy, or flashy, or, you know, awards generating. But it is true to her, and that’s what was important to me.”
Clarkson turns Lilly into a story of how injustice presses a quiet worker into steel, a resolve that resonates very much today.
Lilly, now available on Netflix, was named one of the best overlooked films of the year by Variety.
For More:
Full interview with Clarkson + trailer: https://theindustry.co/p/patricia-clarkson-interview-lilly
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
WBD rejects Paramount’s 8th bid ($30/share; $108.4B).
Nick Reiner’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, exits. A public defender takes his place.
IMAX posts record 2025: $1.28B global (+40%).
Paramount buys The Recovery Agent rights with Gal Gadot producing.
Netflix adapts Brad Thor’s Cold Zero. Producer: Brad Berg. Writer: Nic Pizzolatto.
Netflix picks up Greg Kwedar’s (dir: Sing Sing) new film Saturn Return.
Amazon MGM sets Clashing Through the Snow with Christopher Briney.
CBS exec Radha Subramanyam dies at 55.
Scooby-Doo! Gokko greenlit as anime-style spinoff.
Disney+ adds vertical video feed later this year.
Disney live-action Tangled casts Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim.
Will Arnett joins Gilroy’s Behemoth!, replacing David Harbour.
Netflix orders Nick Kroll comedy series A Hundred Percent.
SAG “Actor Awards” noms: Kate Hudson lands lead actress nod.
mk2 Films adds La Gradiva, Madame, and Fleur pré-Rendez-Vous.
Obscured Releasing acquires NASA doc Starman for North American release.
Dhurandhar becomes top-grossing Hindi film ever in India.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Warner Bros. Discovery rejects Paramount’s 8th bid, now at $30/share and worth $108.4bn. The reasons cited:
Paramount’s credit rating is non-investment grade (junk)
Paramount is using $54bn in debt to finance deal
The WBD board stated:
“This aggressive transaction structure poses materially more risk for WBD and its shareholders when compared to the [conventional structure of the] Netflix merger.”
At this point, they’re just goading David Ellison to bid more.
Separately, Paramount is asking investors of WBD to sell their shares directly to them.
So right now, Netflix has the upper hand with its bid. But this may very well change.
Nick Reiner just lost his high-powered lawyer, Alan Jackson (repped: Harvey Weinstein). He will be represented by a public defender after being charged with first-degree murder of his parents, Michele and Rob Reiner. Jackson’s final words on the case were that Nick is “not guilty of murder.”
If convicted, Nick faces life in prison or possibly the death penalty. Read our Rob Reiner obit here: https://theindustry.co/p/rob-reiner-rip.
2025 was the highest-grossing year IMAX has ever had. Here’s what they brought in this year vs. last:
$1.28bn global box office total
↑ 40%
$449M domestic box office total
↑ 14%
$427M international box office total
↑ 2%
Some of its top earners were led by, of course, the animated Chinese mythological sequel Ne Zha 2 grossing $167M (on IMAX screens). Here were the top others:
Avatar: Fire and Ash ($112M)
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle ($95.9M)
F1: The Movie ($97.6M)
2026 is looking to be just as monumental a year:
Disney’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
Both Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day
As well as Greta Gerwig’s Narnia (coming in Dec) and Dune: Part Three, which both shot with IMAX film cameras, set for a 2026 premiere.
Tidbits:
Paramount Pictures has picked up the rights to The Recovery Agent book series with Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) producing under her Pilot Wave banner and in talks to star. Seems like a predictable role for Gadot, who’s been drawn to action-adventure stories recently, like the Fast & Furious franchise and Netflix’s Red Notice (2021). Janet Evanovich’s 2023 thriller novel follows a nomadic recovery specialist on the hunt for lost and stolen treasures.
Netflix is adapting Brad Thor’s upcoming thriller Cold Zero as a feature film. Produced by Brad Berg (Lone Survivor), the story follows a plane crash near the North Pole involving secret technology that triggers a global race among rival powers. Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective) is writing the script, so it’s sure to be equal parts seedy and introspective.
Christopher Briney (actor: The Summer I Turned Pretty) will lead the Amazon MGM comedy Clashing Through the Snow. The film is being pitched as a modern Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Carlson Young directs (Upgraded). Big shoes to fill if it’s hoping to compare to the John Candy, Steve Martin classic.
Mini Tidbit:
Netflix picks up Greg Kwedar’s (dir: Sing Sing) new film Saturn Return. Produced by Plan B and starring Rachel Brosnahan, Charles Melton, and Will Poulter.
Disney+ will introduce vertical video later this year to boost daily engagement, competing with ESPN’s rollout. The format may include original shorts, repurposed clips, and re-edited scenes. This is tangential to their push for AI. They revealed an AI ad targeting tool at an event at CES Las Vegas.
Scooby-Doo is getting an anime-style spin-off, Scooby-Doo! Gokko. Inspired by Tom & Jerry Gokko - full series here. Definitely a different vibe, but it’s aimed at young audiences.
CBS’s chief research and analytics officer, Radha Subramanyam, has passed away at 55. She joined the broadcaster back in 2017, described as a “force of nature.”
Renewals:
HBO’s The Pitt (for S3)
FX’s The Lowdown (for S2)
HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher (Through 2028)
Trailers:
Saban’s Redux Redux
Release: February 20, 2026
Netflix’s Taskaree: Smugglers
Release: January 14, 2026
Prime Video’s Steal
Cast: Sophie Turner, Austin Abrams (Euphoria)
Release: January 21, 2026
123 Special’s Miroirs No. 3
Release: March 20th, 2026
Netflix’s 2026 Slate tease
Featuring: Millie Bobby Brown, Cillian Murphy, and Theo James
First Look:
Netflix’s Man on Fire
Cast: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen)
Netflix’s Little Brother
Cast: John Cena, Eric André (Bad Trip)
Universal’s Disclosure Day
Cast: Colin Firth
Release Dates:
NEON’s Sirât
Winner: Cannes Jury Prize
Release: Feb 6
Paramount’s Jackass 5
Release: June 26
Netflix’s Beef Season 2
Cast: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong
Release: April 16, 2026
We can’t wait!
Netflix’s Narnia
Directed: Greta Gerwig
Release: December 2026
Netflix’s Wednesday season 3
Cast: Jenna Ortega
Release: Summer 2027
In fact, there were a ton of new Netflix release dates you can review here. Including a new film starring Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, and Eric Bana.
Also, CBS has renamed its Yellowstone sequel Y: Marshals to Marshals.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Teagan Croft, let down your hair!
Disney’s upcoming live-action Tangled movie has officially cast its leads with Australian actress Teagan Croft (HBO Max’s DC’s Titans) as the lovable and curious Rapunzel. Milo Manheim (Disney’s Zombies) plays the swashbuckling charmer Flynn Rider.
A popular duo among online fancasts, the pairing not only fits the part with their looks, but both actors can also sing, with Manheim fresh off a Broadway run in Little Shop of Horrors and no stranger to Disney musicals (clip). Notably, neither is one of the A-list names people were predicting (and dreading), a refreshing choice for a project of this scale and one that feels primed to turn both into breakout stars, as Disney live-action adaptations so often do.
The original 2010 animated take on everyone’s favorite tower dweller grossed $591M worldwide later spawning a successful Disney+ series where its voice leads Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi reprised their roles. Now they will pass the torch to Croft and Manheim who were among the finalists who screen-tested in London late last year.
From The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey, the long-awaited Tangled live-action movie is set to start filming this summer in the UK.
Tidbits:
Will Arnett (Is This Thing On?) has joined Tony Gilroy’s drama Behemoth! in a lead role, replacing David Harbour, who just exited the project. Arnett reunites with Searchlight after the dramedy Is This Thing On?, where he played a broken adult who finds solace when he wanders into a stand-up club and kills it. Best known for TV comedy and animation roles, Arnett is recently leaning more dramatic. Though some might have been put off by BoJack Horseman, Arnett as that talking horse made me cry many times. We still don’t know much about Behemoth!, but Arnett seems like a great addition.
Nick Kroll (Big Mouth) returns to Netflix with A Hundred Percent, a half-hour live-action comedy greenlit to series, starring Kroll, Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso), Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), and Vanessa Bayer (SNL). The series follows a group of thought leaders, industry heads (books, podcasts, wellness branding), who sell self-improvement publicly while privately failing to manage their own lives. Kroll had major success with Big Mouth and it’ll be very funny to see his crass angle on self-help.
The Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps is set to lead the modern romance Emma Doucet as its titular character. Directed by Elise Girard (Sidonie in Japan), she describes Emma as someone who “could have stepped out of a Jane Austen novel,” and, while still grappling with life’s obstacles, it appears to mark a lighter, possibly more playful turn than we’ve seen from Krieps previously. Production is set to begin this spring
Smaller Tidbits:
The actress behind Wicked’s Elphaba’s smushed sister, Marissa Bode, will star in Snare, a Tribeca-backed psychological thriller feature. Like in Wicked and its sequel, Bode’s mycological researcher character Greta unwittingly gets entangled in a violent conflict. Production on Snare is ongoing in L.A.
Joey Pollari isn’t leaving Ryan Murphy’s side. He’s just joined the cast of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth season of the Netflix anthology series, not long after his portrayal of Psycho actor Anthony Perkins in the third season, following serial killer Ed Gein. The Lizzie Borden Story is currently being filmed.
Netflix’s upcoming YA series Poser announces Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy and Daisy Jelley (How to Have Sex) will play its leads as toxic, former best friends. Specifics of the plot are under wraps with the 8-episode drama set to be filmed later this spring.
FESTIVALS
SAG Awards, now called The Actor Awards released their nominations.
The big standout is Kate Hudson picking up a “Best Actress” nomination. She’s sensational in Song Sung Blue, very much deserved.
Some big snubs are for Neon. Not a single actor in the following got nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, or Best Supporting Actress:
Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent (Neon)
Won Best Actor at Cannes.
Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value.
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value
A24 fared better with Marty Supreme, but didn’t earn anything for Smashing Machine. Other performances to get shut out were Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams.
Without further ado…
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)
Emma Stone (Bugonia)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Miles Caton (Sinners)
Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)
Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
Paul Mescal (Hamnet)
Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme)
Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good)
Amy Madigan (Weapons)
Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)
Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)
Historically, SAG matched the Oscar winner 7 out of 10 times for Best Actor. And 6/10 times for Best Actress.
Full list of nominees here.
For More:
DGA TV awards nominees here.
Art Directors Guild Awards here.
Just a week out from Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous market, France’s major sales player mk2 Films (Anatomy of a Fall) has added three films to its lineup. The trio includes two directorial debuts from female filmmakers: Marie Atlan’s coming-of-age La Gradiva and Hélène Rosselet-Ruiz’s tension-filled Madame. The third film is period drama Fleur from director Remi Chaye (Long Way North). The week-long French film market begins in Paris next week.
Screenplays:
Read Neon’s Sirāt screenplay, by director Oliver Laxe and Santiago Fillol, and Warner Bros.’ Weapons screenplay by Zach Cregger. Remember, this was the one Josh Brolin thought was the best thing he’d ever read.
Plus nineteen more prospective Oscar scripts:
https://theindustry.co/p/prospective-best-screenplay-academy-dbf
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
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