New American Psycho
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
A Cover Story on a new American Psycho.
In The Industry News: Paramount’s exits and Apple TV+’s deal.
Actor Spotlight: Djimon Hounsou’s Bloody Diamond. Christopher Abbott’s studio transformation. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s secret.
Festivals: SXSW + Morgan Freeman.
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight: Tony Kaye is back, and Music Box Films nabs a Cannes spy.
Let’s go!
Luca Guadagnino (Dir: Challengers, Call Me By Your Name) is in final talks to direct American Psycho.
This is not set as a remake of the cult classic film starring Christian Bale as the unsettlingly deranged Patrick Bateman, but instead a new film from the source novel (author: Bret Easton Ellis). Lionsgate will distribute.
Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group Chair, stated:
“We are thrilled to add another elite filmmaker to our upcoming slate… Luca is a brilliant artist, and the perfect visionary to create a whole new interpretation of this potent and classic IP.”
The original film is a thinly veiled metaphor for capitalism gone haywire. The win-at-all-costs business mentality transforms corporate “mergers and acquisitions” to a more literal description of the effects: “murderers and executions.”
We’re curious to see the new spin on this material, as Guadagnino has never taken on such a staunch capitalist critique but is instead adept at making radical love movies:
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Explores with great feeling hidden desires
Bones and All (2022)
Used cannibalism to expose the literal rawness of love
Challengers (2024)
The derailment of friendship over obsession with the same woman
Queer (2024)
Portrait of a disembodied man addicted to connection
The love happening in American Psycho is the most perverted love of all: the unchecked love for more. Whatever his interpretation, it will be a tall task to separate it from the original, but there’s no one better at finding material’s bleeding heart.
Scott Z. Burns (Side Effects, Contagion) is writing the script. No shoot/release dates have been set.
For More:
American Psycho (2000) trailer.
Bones and All trailer. Love gets bloody.
Challengers trailer. There’s a certain subdued sexiness that makes it enthralling.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Paramount sees two major exits:
Charles Phillips, Paramount Board of Directors (2004-2024)
Phillips started as a board member of Viacom, which then became ViacomCBS, and merged into Paramount.
Four board members have already stepped down in the wake of David Ellison's (CEO: Skydance) acquisition of Paramount, which is set to close next year. Interestingly, Phillips was a former executive of Larry Elison’s Oracle (who is partially bankrolling his son David’s deal).
The other exit:
Jeff Shultz - Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Business Development Officer, Streaming at Paramount Global
Schultz, one of the key architects for Pluto TV and Paramount+, stated:
“Years ago, the vision for Paramount Streaming easily could have been criticized as too daring. Today, after announcing our first globally profitable quarter, there is no denying Paramount Streaming is a success.”
Paramount’s three CEOs are systematically consolidating the business after being tasked with eliminating $500 M in annual costs as many jobs up and down the corporate ladder get axed.
Oscar-nominated producer Kevin Walsh and his The Walsh Company have extended his overall deal with Apple TV+ to continue developing and producing high quality films and shows for the streamer. The news comes shortly after Walsh produced Apple TV+’s most-watched movie, the Matt Damon and Casey Affleck heist thriller The Instigators (trailer).
Walsh shared:
“The opportunity that lies ahead for Apple, one of the most successful and innovative companies in the world, cannot be understated, and I’m thrilled to keep delivering movies and TV shows that connect with their global audience and play a part in their growth.”
The producer also recently reunited with director Ridley Scott for last year’s epic, Napoleon (2023, trailer). Walsh’s next project with Apple is the Michael Pearce thriller Echo Valley, which stars Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney and has no official release date as of yet.
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Gladiator (2000) scribe David Franzoni is adapting his upcoming graphic novel, Alexander Immortal, slated to release in 2025, into a scripted series with Graphic India and Starlings Television.
Official Synopsis:
Driven by an unyielding ambition, Alexander the Great set out to conquer the known world, his legendary army unstoppable. But as he plunges into the heart of India, a land alive with mystical secrets and fierce warriors, Alexander faces his deadliest challenge. Here, amidst epic battles and ancient wisdom, he discovers that the true conquest is not of empires but of his own soul.
A lesser-known story of the famous historical figure, Franzoni created and wrote the graphic novel with his son, actor/screenwriter Hudson Franzoni (writer: Apocryphal), who will both serve as showrunners and EPs. A network/streamer is not yet attached.
Tidbits:
Lore of The Rings: Ian McKellen clarified that The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum won't be split into two films, despite previous reports. Screenwriter Philippa Boyen confirmed another LOTR movie is also in development. Andy Serkis may use AI to de-age original cast members, including Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen.
As expected, we had a ton of announcements at Comic-Con, here are the highlights:
M3GAN 2.0 (Universal/Blumhouse)
A quick short on-set hello from M3GAN herself
Wolf Man (Universal/Blumhouse)
In Theaters January 17th
More on this in Actor Spotlight
Daredevil Born Again (Disney)
Premiere date announced
March 4th 2025
Star Trek Strange New Worlds (Paramount)
Rhys Darby guest-starring
SONY:
Karate Kid Legends (S0ny)
Trailer shown to Audience
Kraven The Hunter (Sony)
Screened the first seven minutes, and a few other clips
Releases December 13th
Venom Last Dance (Sony)
Tom Hardy led a cast panel
Director promised possible spinoffs.
Lionsgate:
The Strangers Chapter 2 (Lionsgate)
AMC:
The Walking Dead Dead City Season 2 (AMC)
Toni Vaz, the first Black stuntwoman in Hollywood, died at the amazing age of 101 earlier this month. A pioneering actress turned stunt performer in films like Anna Lucasta (1958) and The Singing Nun (1966), she created the N.A.A.C.P Image Awards in 1967 to specifically recognize and honor the work of Black artists in film, television, music, theater, and literature. Vaz’s legacy, both on-screen and her impact on the industry as a whole, is timeless, and she will be remembered fondly.
Writer, director, and producer Aaron Kaufman unexpectedly passed away last week at age 51. The Long Island native was most known for his Emmy-nominated documentary film Superpower (2023, trailer), which followed the events happening in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country two years ago. The Machete Kills (2013) producer will be greatly missed.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Djimon Hounsou (actor: Blood Diamond) wants to play a game. He is starring in The Monster, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw 2-4, Spiral).
Here’s the official synopsis:
Two millennials make quick money by leasing incredible New York City apartments they don’t own to people who don’t know they are being scammed. The con works brilliantly until they run into an apartment owner with a dark secret who flips the game on them.
Best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance in Blood Diamond (2006, trailer), Hounsou played opposite Leonardo DiCaprio as Soloman Vandy, a fisherman intent on escaping war-torn Sierra Leone with his family.
Over the course of his more than three decades career Hounsou has worked on a wide range of films:
Amistad (1997)
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Breakthrough performance as Cinque, the leader of a slave revolt (clip)
Gladiator (2000)
In America (2002)
Best Supporting Actor nomination
Played Mateo, an expiring AIDS survivor
The Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Portrayed Kree soldier, Korath the Pursuer (still)
Hounsou reprised his role of Henri, the quick-thinking leader of a small island colony of survivors, in Paramount’s A Quiet Place: Day One.
Djimon has easy access to torrential sadness that can flip to rage as seen in this scene. That quality will make him perfect as the mad architect of this next twisted horror film.
Filming begins for The Monster next month in Connecticut.
Tidbit:
Christopher Abbott leads his first studio feature with Universal’s Wolf Man. Not much character range is revealed in the new trailer or the previously released teaser. Abbott is great at playing characters that are on the edge of sanity, like a suicidal man in On The Count of Three (2021, trailer) or the spiraling son in Josh Mond’s James White (2015, trailer). In Wolf Man, Julia Garner plays his wife, contending with his transformation into another man (a wolfman). The film could, in good hands, be a horror film version of Marriage Story. There is not much evidence of that so far, but we’ll reserve judgment until we watch it on January 17th.
The director is Leigh Whannell (Invisible Man).
Lee Pace (The Fall) is joining The Running Man. He’s one of about a half dozen actors that have been cast in the last few weeks, including Josh Brolin, Katy O'Brian, and Karl Glusman. Release date: Nov 21st, 2025. Director: Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz).
Secret Level Upgraded it's cast: The Exciting video game anthology series premiering on Prime Dec 10th, has announced it's cast featuring voice over talent from among others Keanu Reeves, Kevin Hart & Arnold Schwarzenegger. Secret Level is a one of a kind display of Sony's best games and IP. Check out the trailer here.
FESTIVALS
The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will world premiere Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, an electrifying tale of young Filipino sex workers.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A rich teenage runaway and a group of street hustlers who both seek to find a place for themselves in the world.
The trailer is kinetic, surreal, and sexual. The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival kicks off in the capital of Estonia on November 8th. Here’s their full line up.
SXSW Audience Award winner My Dead Friend Zoe, starring co-starring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris has quietly dropped a first look clip. The film takes a look at a Merit, an Afghanistan veteran who has a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army. Merit comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather (Harris) at the family's ancestral lake house. Briarcliff Entertainment is releasing Feb 28 2025.
I’m a massive fan of France’s Lumière Festival. I have some friends living in the area, and I have fond memories of seeing Mulholland Drive one dark and foggy night at a rapt theater. They often have big names in cinema fly down to Lyon to give masterclasses, like Jonathan Glazer (video) and Alejandro Jodorowsky. One of their premieres this year is the silent film After Death. This is a 1920s Hungarian “erotic crime thriller” that was thought to be lost, until it was painfully restored by Hungary’s National Film Institute (NFI). Check out the trailer, which has some contemporary elements, such as people shooting and bludgeoning each other.
The festival concluded yesterday.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Tony Kaye (director: American History X) is back. After his Hollywood exile (more on this later), he directed his first feature film in 13 years.
It is The Trainer. Here is the official synopsis:
Follows Jack, a delusional and shredded fitness expert living with his mother in Los Angeles, who takes a maniacal swing at fame and fortune by inventing a weighted hat that promises to increase the flow of hope molecules to the brain pursuing his version of the American dream connecting with an army of celebrities and power brokers (Paris Hilton, Lenny Kravitz, John McEnroe and Gus Van Sant make appearances)
The film is premiering at the Rome Film Festival.
Kaye stated:
“I think what we made is a punk Marvel film… But it’s not necessarily ‘Hollywood.’ It’s got all the dynamics of the firing missiles and spaceships, but it’s all internal. It’s all from the neurons of the body.”
I’ve got no idea what that means, but Kaye’s neurons work on a different level. He is one of the purest artists who doesn’t back down.
By way of a cautionary tale, when Tony Kaye lost final cut of American History X to Edward Norton, he decided to go to war. He brought a rabbi and a priest into one meeting to play mediator. He took out a 100K front page ad in the NY Times demanding his name be changed to “Humpty Dumpty.” Ever since he’s been effectively expelled from Hollywood, we hope this project is his return to the big screen.
Sundance’s Gaucho Gaucho, ahead of its release this weekend has dropped a trailer. The documentary that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is a celebration of Argentine Gauchos, a community of cowboys and cowgirls living beyond the modern world's boundaries.
The directors, Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw are attracted to outsider stories. Their previous feature, The Truffle Hunters (trailer), which played at Cannes, TIFF, and Sundance, did just that.
They discussed their new approach in Gaucho Gaucho:
“We’re trying to create this new cinematic language that would merge the authenticity and immediacy of this observational vérité filmmaking with deliberate, artful filmmaking technique.”
Witness the poetic slow-motion trailer for Gaucho Gaucho.
Tidbit:
Music Box Films has picked up North American distribution for the Cannes Critics Week opening film Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes). Directed by Jonathan Millet, the film follows Hamid, who joins a secret group tracking Syrian regime leaders on the run. His mission takes him to France, where he pursues his former torturer for a fateful confrontation.
Cannes described it as:
“A thrilling sensory film… that overhauls the canons of spy movies.”
Watching the trailer, I agree wholeheartedly. Music Box Films will release the film next Spring.
Catfishing stories are all the rage these days, first with the mysteriously frustrating Catfish (2010) and blowing up with Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler (2022). But there’s a new kid on the block, Hulu’s Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara, which premiered at TIFF. The doc, directed by Britney vs. Spears (2021) director Erin Lee Carr shows how a prominent queer early 2000s band’s widely devoted fandom got catfished by someone who was impersonating the band members. Sometimes, sending 1000s of messages over the years to fans who developed a relationship with who they thought were the band members. Here’s the trailer. Streaming on Hulu now.
Filmmaker Jeremy Power Regimbal’s documentary Between the Mountain and the Sky explores resilience, love, and loss through the story of CNN Hero Maggie Doyne, who co-founded a children's home in Nepal. The film chronicles her grief, community work, and a budding romance between her and Regimbal during filming. It is EP’d by the Duplas brothers and is currently seeking distribution.
ON THIS DAY
1956. Carrie Fisher is born in Burbank, California.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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