Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Oscar Isaac, Jude Law and A24’s next Janet Planet.
Let’s go!
To our readers in LA being affected by the fires, our heart goes out to you. Please stay safe.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
More postponements due to the LA wildfires, including the PGA nominations and Sony’s One of Them Days premiere.
Phyllis Dalton (costume designer: Lawrence of Arabia) has passed away at 99.
Venu Sports, the joint venture by Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros., has been scrapped.
Warner Bros. Discovery has brought on Priya Aiyar to take over as chief legal officer.
DreamWorks Animation pushed Shrek 5’s release date back 5 months to the end of 2026.
Jude Law is set to play Vladimir Putin in The Wizard of the Kremlin.
Bill Byrge, best known as the silent yet spirited Bobby alongside Jim Varney’s Ernest P. Worrell, has died at 92.
Angel Studios' has a star-studded cast for their first animated feature film.
Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson and directed by Bong Joon-Ho (dir: Parasite) will premiere at The Berlin Film Festival.
Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk) has come on to produce first-time director Stuart Sandford’s Antinous.
Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf’s found footage horror film It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This gained significant traction due to its unique distribution strategy.
Playwright Annie Baker (dir: Janet Planet) is directing a new film for A24, with casting currently underway.
The Palestinian Oscar entry, From Ground Zero is getting a sequel.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
More closures due to the LA wildfires:
PGA nominations
Postponed 1.12 → ?
Companies have started pledging money:
Walt Disney
$15 M
Paramount
$1 M
SAF-AFTRA
$1 M
SoCal Fire Fund (CAA Foundation, Sean Penn’s charity CORE)
Premieres have also been canceled for:
Sony’s One of Them Days
Warner Bros. Discovery has offered emergency housing to their employees.
Get a full list of the event cancellations:
https://theindustry.co/p/cancellations-la-wildfires
Highly admired British costume designer, Phyllis Dalton, the woman behind the iconic white desert robe in the Best Picture winning Lawrence of Arabia (1962) has died at the age of 99.
Dalton often worked on critically acclaimed films, receiving praise for her dashing and swashbuckling costumes in Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987). She secured an Oscar both for her work on David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V (1989) 24 years apart from one another, before retiring from the industry in 1993. Her legacy will live on through her creativity on screen.
Mini Tidbit:
As was inevitable, Venu Sports, the joint venture by Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros., has been scrapped. Fubo, had brought a lawsuit against the companies, which was ended when Disney bought a majority share.
Warner Bros. Discovery has brought on Priya Aiyar to take over as chief legal officer, who previously spent five years with American Airlines. Aiyar will oversee legal and compliance functions at the studio conglomerate effective immediately.
DreamWorks Animation shifts release dates:
Shrek 5
Pushed Jul 2026 → Dec 2026
Minions 3
Jun 2027 → Summer 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
There are few roles Jude Law could not pull off but his role as the Russian President and dictator Vladimir Putin may be his biggest undertaking yet.
Upcoming thriller film, The Wizard of the Kremlin, from French filmmaker Olivier Assayas (dir. Carlos) is based on author Giuliano Da Empoli’s 2022 bestselling novel and will see Law alongside:
Jeffrey Wright
Alicia Vikander
Zach Galifianakis
Tom Sturridge
Paul Dano as a young Russian filmmaker who becomes an unlikely advisor to Putin.
Synopsis:
Russia, early 1990s, in the aftermath of the USSR’s collapse. In a new world that promises freedom and flirts with chaos, a young artist-turned-TV producer, Vadim Baranov (Dano), unexpectedly becomes the spin doctor of a promising member of the FSB (ex-KGB), Vladimir Putin (Law).
This isn’t the actor’s first time transforming into a notorious political leader, not long ago he starred as the monstrous and murderous Henry VIII in Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand (2023, trailer). Law is fully committed to the role of the rotting king, very intentional in his cruelty making him all the more convincing.
Law’s early career successes also had a touch of cruelty, stemming from asymmetric power. In The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Law plays a scion who spends his days galavanting across Italy who wields both financial and sexual power over a young Matt Damon, who gets his revenge.
Next up for Mr. Napkin Head (The Holiday scene) is Ron Howard’s highly anticipated survival thriller Eden, with a premiere at TIFF back in September and is expected for a summer 2025 release.
The Wizard of the Kremlin has not yet started shooting and is currently in pre-production.
If you are enjoying the newsletter and see its value, please consider supporting the newsletter by becoming a premium subscriber https://theindustry.co/subscribe
Bill Byrge, best known as the silent yet spirited Bobby alongside Jim Varney’s Ernest P. Worrell, has died at 92. Appearing in four Ernest films and Hey, Vern, It’s Ernest!, Byrge balanced acting with a 27-year Nashville library career. He remained a beloved figure at conventions and school visits. He will be missed.
His physical comedy and mime were always a big part of Ernest Films. Clip.
The cast for The King of Kings is insane:
Kenneth Branagh (Oscar Winner)
Uma Thurman (Oscar Nominee)
Mark Hamill (Emmy Winner)
Pierce Brosnan (Golden Globe Nominee)
Forrest Whitaker (Oscar Winner)
Ben Kingsley (Oscar Winner)
Oscar Isaac (Golden Globe Winner)
Plays Jesus Christ
Is this the next prestige indie by A24, Marvel’s cast for the newest Avengers, or a Disney animated film? Neither, although the last guess would be the closest.
The film is Angel Studios' first animated feature to be released theatrically on April 11th. Here’s the trailer.
FESTIVALS
The Berlin Film Festival has a new premiere: Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson.
This is the much-delayed next film of Bong Joon-Ho (dir: Parasite). Pattinson plays 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 (trailer).
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.
The Berlin Film Festival runs Feb 13 - Feb 23.
Warner Bros. will then release Mickey 17 on February 28 in South Korea and March 7 in the US.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Gus Van Sant has come on to produce first-time director Stuart Sandford’s Antinous.
Here’s the synopsis:
Present-day young actor, who becomes convinced he is the reincarnation of Antinous, sparking a psychosexual drama that bridges the grandeur of ancient Rome with Hollywood’s obsession with youth, beauty and immortality.
Van Sant stated:
“I’m excited to see Stuart Sandford, an amazing photographer and sculptor, create a beautiful film inspired by the historical relationship between Hadrian and Antinous.”
Filming is kicking of in the next few months in Greece, London and LA.
It’s on trend for Van Sant to board a youth/queer-themed film by an early director. He has done so many times throughout his career:
Age Out (2019)
Dir: A.J. Edwards
Cast: Tye Sheridan, Imogen Poots, Caleb Landry Jones, Jeffrey Wright
I Am Michael (2015)
Dir: Justin Kelly
James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Emma Roberts
Laurence Anyways (2012)
Dir: Xavier Dolan
Howl (2010)
Dir: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Cast: James Franco, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker
Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006)
Antinous is kicking of in the next few months in Greece, London and LA.
Creating a Cult Hit: Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf’s found footage horror film It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This gained significant traction due to its unique distribution strategy, limiting screenings to theatrical events and refusing digital or physical releases. The pair had decided before even shooting that this would never hit streamers and would only be made for theater viewing. This approach, combined with the film's semi-improvised narrative, created word-of-mouth buzz, leading to sold-out shows and accolades from festivals like TIFF and Salem Horror Fest.
During a time absolutely dominated by big streamers and creatives giving more and more compromises to stay in those good graces, it's exciting to see a couple of indie directors say nah we are gonna do our own thing.
Because of it's unique release schedule you will have to do a bit of searching on your own to see if It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This is coming to your town but it's cult following worth seeking out if you are brave enough.
Tidbits:
Playwright Annie Baker is directing a new film for A24, with casting currently underway. Also from the studio, Baker’s feature directorial debut, Janet Planet (2023), received much acclaim for its poetic dissection of a tumultuous relationship between a lonely child and her struggling mother. Prior, Baker was best known for writing her Pulitzer Prize winning play The Flick (2014), while plot details of her upcoming A24 film are being kept under wraps.
The Palestinian Oscar entry, From Ground Zero, which premiered at TIFF, which Michael Moore boarded as an EP, is getting a sequel. The first film was composed of over 20 brief documentary vignettes. And the new film, From Ground Zero Plus, will be 4 docs running 20-30min each. Read all about From Ground Zero in our cover story:
https://theindustry.co/p/glen-powell-holes-2-and-from-ground
ON THIS DAY
1966. Batman, starring Adam West as Batman debuts on ABC.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | X
Want to advertise with us? Email: clarke.scott@theindustry.co