Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Nicolas Cage’s Pancakes, Squid Game’s Dealer, and Tarantino at Slamdance.
Let’s go!
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Last night we had our Sinners live virtual panel. Thanks to all 250 people who showed up! If you were unable to catch it, check out the replay here:
https://theindustry.co/p/sinners-virtual-live-panel-eca
I just want my damn pancakes!
I will bet money that those words will be uttered by Nic Cage in his new action-thriller, Best Pancakes in the County.
Cage is set to star alongside Justin Long (recently great in Barbarian) and Shelley Hennig (Teen Wolf). Written and directed by Ken Sanzel, who collaborated previously with Cage on Kill Chain (2019).
The film unfolds over the course of a single night inside a small-town diner that becomes the center of a volatile and deadly standoff with a fast-talking con man (Cage) with his finger on the trigger. It’s him versus a group of rogue federal agents and a waitress having a wild shift.
Cage and Sanzel established a similar formula in Kill Chain. One location, a love interest, and multiple gunfights. It’s a bit John Wick, a bit Natural Born Killers.
We’re hoping that the goofy title adds a bit more latitude to this one. Hopefully, in line with Cage’s epic run of late career jaunts, where he plays on all manner of menace, eccentricity, and unpredictability (Dream Scenario, Pig, Sympathy for the Devil, The Surfer, Mandy).
It feels like directors who decide to work with Cage never truly know what they will get, so they just create the most fun battleground for him to go nuts in.
Cage can steal any scene, and he is going to turn this bottled-up negotiation thriller into a pressure cooker.
Currently shooting in Arkansas.
For More:
Kill Chain (trailer)
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Netflix is reworking its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to be all-cash.
Netflix greenlights The Dealer, a supernatural casino drama produced by Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.
Anna Ouyang Moench (wri: Severance) now showrunner on Mr. & Mrs. Smith S2.
Amazon MGM adapts Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware crime novels for TV.
Jamie Schwartz joins Anton as Director of Marketing & Brands.
Apple lands an Andre Agassi doc series from Tiger King creators.
NBC orders a pilot for a modern The Rockford Files reboot.
Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen signs new overall deal with Netflix.
Michelle Williams joins Damien Chazelle’s next film.
Former Sundance director John Cooper will serve on the Sundance jury.
Quentin Tarantino is producing a film at Slamdance 2026, The Projectionist.
Jaume Collet-Serra (dir: Carry On) sets his next Netflix film, The Cage.
Angel Studios signs 3-pic first-look deal with actor Neal McDonough’s prod co.
HBO Max expands into eight more European countries.
Sky orders an updated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.
Lionsgate sells Lionsgate Play to founder Rohit Jain.
Banijay and All3Media/RedBird IMI explore a mega-merger.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Netflix is in the process of revising its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. Previously, they’d settled on buying each WBD share for $23.25 plus $4.50 in Netflix stock.
Netflix is now considering an all-cash offer. This would be designed to expedite what is expected to be a lengthy review process by the DOJ.
Paramount came out earlier this week to sue Netflix, angling to see WBD’s internal documents on how they value their linear TV spinoff (which are essential to showing that Paramount’s deal to buy the full company is more valuable).
Like a Korean Croupier with supernatural powers. That’s what I gather Netflix’s The Dealer, produced by Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, will feel like.
The new series, in brief, is about a casino dealer whose wedding collapses when she gets mixed up in a scam. This forces her to go back to illegal gambling, bringing out her supernatural abilities.
Given Dong-hyuk’s ability to bring viewers into insane, shadowy underworlds that mirror society at its most evil, I, for one, am very excited about The Dealer.
Severance writer Anna Ouyang Moench knows a thing or two about living a double life. Moench has joined season two of Mr. and Mrs. Smith as showrunner for Amazon Prime Video.
After production was delayed this past fall, Moench is boarding as a replacement for series co-creator Francesca Sloane, who had to step down after signing off on an overall deal at HBO.
Moench is also an EP on the anticipated second season of Netflix’s Beef, dropping this spring, with Mr. and Mrs. Smith expected to start filming around that same time.
Tidbits:
Amazon MGM Studios is adapting Alex Delaware, a long-running crime series by author Jonathan Kellerman, for TV. The studio now owns the entire collection of a whopping 41 books centered on a brilliant L.A. psychologist who teams up with a stubborn LAPD detective to uncover disturbing murders. Jennifer Johnson (Washington Black) is tapped as writer, producing alongside Head of TV at Entertainment One, Michael Rosenberg (Hung).
Former Sky and Focus exec Jamie Schwartz is taking on the role of Director of Marketing and Brands at Anton (prod co: Greenland). At Sky, he served as the Director of Movies Marketing, launching the theatrical premieres of films like Lee (2023) and Nuremberg (2025). Schwartz will now oversee marketing and publicity on a global level for Anton’s entire film and TV slate.
An Apple Andre Agassi doc series from the creators of Tiger King. Chris Smith (Prod: Netflix’s Tiger King, Dir: Fyre) seems to revel in wild, turbulent personalities. Agassi, himself, revealed in his memoir that there was a period of time he stopped playing tennis because he was using crystal meth. That’s quite a habit to overkick to become one of tennis’ greatest players, winning an Olympic Gold + every major tennis tournament. In Smith’s capable hands, this docu-series should be a wild ride.
NBC has ordered a pilot for a reboot of The Rockford Files, marking the network’s first formal pilot pickup of the year. Written by Mike Daniels, the contemporary update of the late 70’s classic series (trailer) follows private investigator James Rockford after his release from prison. With a modern twist, it’s kind of heralding a more American Sherlock. NBC also greenlit another pilot, Protection. That hails from Josh Safran (creator: Quantico). Full breakdown on IMDbPro.
Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen signs a new overall deal with Netflix. Van Dusen served as showrunner for the hit Regency-era romance series’ first two seasons, breaking records on the streamer. Under the new pact, Van Dusen will remain with the streamer, set to write and showrun Calabasas, a drama series being produced by Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts.
Mini Tidbits:
Globe’s ratings drop
New Gersh Partner
50 Cent’s $124M investment
Versant
Read all those tidbits and more here: https://theindustry.co/p/globes-gersh-50-cent
Trailers:
MGM’s Vanished
Cast: Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant)
Release: February 1, 2026
Paramount’s Scream 7
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox
Release: February 27, 2026
HBO Max’s Portobello
Release: February 20, 2026
Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2
Cast: Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell
Release: February 27, 2026
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday
Release: December 18, 2026
Deepfaking Sam Altman
Premiere: SXSW
NY Release: 1/16
LA release: 1/30
FX’s The Beauty trailer hits 190M views in 7 days. That’s a record for the company. No data is given on how much ad spend was put behind this, so it's hard to measure how organic this was. We found it pretty compelling: https://theindustry.co/p/ashton-kutchers-the-substance
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Fresh off her Golden Globe win for Dying for Sex, Michelle Williams is the newest name joining Damien Chazelle’s next film. Acting alongside Daniel Craig and Cillian Murphy, the untitled feature is set in a prison and said to be inspired by “70s movies.”
In her two most recent film roles, Williams collaborated with visionary filmmakers, playing an anxious sculptor for Kelly Reichardt in Showing Up (2023, trailer) and a free-spirited, emotionally complex mother in Steven Spielberg’s deeply personal The Fabelmans (2022, scene). This marks her first Chazelle project. Known for her intimate, soul-baring performances, her casting potentially suggests that Chazelle’s newest film may lean more back into character-driven storytelling like Whiplash.
After getting delayed several times, the Paramount film is expected to start production this spring. It’s hard to imagine a Damien Chazelle film set in a prison, but with this cast attached, I am definitely intrigued.
Tidbits:
Pulitzer and Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens stars opposite Ed Helms in indie drama An Ode to Mary Jo, Justin Liberman’s feature debut. Recently wrapped, the film follows a single mother facing cascading family crises. Giddens also serves as music supervisor, co-writing songs with Helms and Jason Isbell.
From the wicked witch of Emerald City to Na’vi in Pandora, Michelle Yeoh will appear in both Avatar 4 and 5. Cameron has shared that she has already shot her scenes for the fourth installment, playing a character named Palakpuelat. Avatar 4 is currently scheduled for a 2029 premiere.
The highest-grossing actor of all time is Zoe Saldaña. That’s due to her appearance in Avatar, Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Her total box office sits at $15.468bn. Right above Scarlett Johansson’s $15.4bn.
Mini Tidbits:
Gavin O’Connor’s new star
Will Ferrell-led golf series new cast
Blair Underwood's new film
Read all those tidbits and more here: https://theindustry.co/p/gavin-oconnors-star-will-ferrells
FESTIVALS
Sundance Jury members unite! For the final year in Park City, the festival has pulled together some great judges, including:
John Cooper (former Sundance director)
AV Rockwell (dir: Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning A Thousand and One)
Janicza Bravo (dir: Zola)
Trevor Groth (EVP: 30 West)
Ari Handel (President: Protozoa Pictures)
Martin Starr
Full list of Jury here.
Tarantino at Slamdance. Quentin Tarantino is producing a film at this year’s Slamdance:
The Projectionist (USA) World Premiere - Spotlight features
Dir: Alexandre Rockwell
Cast: Vondie Curtis-Hall, Kasi Lemmons, Kevin Corrigan, and Steve Buscemi’s brother Michael
Synopsis:
A reclusive projectionist is haunted by a wrongful conviction and the loss of his wife. He lives in solitude inside a fading art house theater until one fateful night when his past resurfaces, forcing him to confront the truth, rekindle love, and find peace in the glow of the final reel.
Here are some more Slamdance films that caught our eye.
Under The Rainbow: The Curious Crimes Of The Ruby Slippers
Synopsis:
When the original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz are stolen from a small-town museum in Minnesota, a maze of clues and calamities unfolds—colliding the heartland with Hollywood and big-time crime.
Matapanki (Chile)
Dir: Diego “Mapache” Fuentes
Synopsis:
After obtaining superpowers that are activated by alcohol, a young punk will try to make a change in society, but due to a serious mistake, he will end up unleashing an international conflict against him.
The festival runs Feb. 19-25 in LA. Full list 2026 lineup here.
Sales agent Goodfellas (Nouvelle Vague) has picked up period romance La Vénus Electrificata to launch sales at Paris’ Unifrance Rendez-Vous. A drama set in the mysterious art world, the film is one of six titles headed to the market this week, with the Paris-based Goodfellas.
SXSW Sydney is no more. After three years, the SXSW festival in Sydney has disbanded.
Visual Effects Society reveals nominees here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Jaume Collet-Serra (dir: Netflix’s Carry-On) is directing a new film for Netflix, The Cage. Not much is known about the plot, but it’s a high-concept cop action thriller.
We loved Collet-Serra’s Carry-On, a stylish, new-age twist on Die Hard: https://theindustry.co/p/jason-bateman-die-hard
It currently sits as Netflix’s 3rd most-watched film, so we’re excited to see what he comes up with next.
The Cage is being written by Chris Grillot & Malcolm Badewitz. Prod Co is Dylan Clark Productions (The Batman).
Tidbits:
Angel Studios signs a 3 picture first look deal with actor Neal McDonough’s The McDonough Company.
This comes after the success of Angel Studios’ The Last Rodeo starring McDonough. The film centers on a retired rodeo legend who returns to the game to save his ailing grandson. The riding sequences look like they’re shot with some of the same intensity as the boxing sequences in Raging Bull (trailer).
It opened to $5.4M and made $15.2M in the US. So it makes sense that Angel Studios wants to lock him down for more.
You’ve hit the paywall! But don’t fret, there’s more news about HBO, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and, randomly, Yahoo’s olive branch to filmmakers.
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