Oscars Begin
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
A Cover Story on Telluride’s Oscar hopefuls.
In The Industry News, Universal scares up some Jurassic Park details and a great first look photo of Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali. We also look STX Entertainment’s Bigfoot movie. And a brewing legal battle at Mattel.
In Actor’s Spotlight, we check out Barry Keoghan’s new role. He’s been cast in a show he was born for. And Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte join my favorite director’s new film. Plus, new roles for Peter Sarsgaard, Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Adele Exarchopoulos (in a sci-fi!), and Julia Garner.
In Festivals, we look at three films at Venice, including a documentary with some rare footage of John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono.
For Indie Filmmaker Spotlight, we celebrate Annapurna’s getting back to narrative…with two video games. Also, an Ingmar Bergman remake by the Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy director.
Let’s go!
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Telluride Film Festival, which kicks off today, just announced its official selection.
The festival is often seen as the first stop on the Oscar Awards Season junket, playing many recent Best Picture winners:
Parasite (2019)
The Shape of Water (2017)
Moonlight (2016)
Right now, there are three official selections from Telluride that are primed for Oscar glory.
Here’s a breakdown:
Dir: Edward Berger
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci
Distributor: Focus Features
Synopsis:
Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, where he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of The Church.
Why it’s getting Oscar buzz:
Berger directed All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), which picked up four Oscars at last year’s Academy Awards, including Best International film. It is one of the most awarded foreign-language films of all time.
Berger has now been anointed as a major talent in the industry with loads of high-profile projects in progress, such as The Ballad of a Small Player starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton for Netflix, and is in talks for the new Bourne film.
Dir: RaMell Ross
Star: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard) and Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass)
Distributor: Orion Pictures (Amazon MGM)
First look image
Synopsis:
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
Why it’s getting Oscar buzz:
Everyone who has seen it considers it a Best Picture contender, including Telluride Festival director Julie Huntsinger, who stated:
“It’s such a towering achievement. I couldn’t believe it. My jaw dropped to the floor. You almost can’t speak after because it’s cinematically engaging, arresting. It is emotionally rewarding. It should be one of the most talked about films of the whole year.”
Dir: Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Afterlife)
Cast + (their characters):
Gabriel LaBelle (Lorne Michaels)
Dylan O’Brien (Dan Aykroyd)
Nicholas Braun (Jim Henson / Andy Kaufman)
Cooper Hoffman (Dick Ebersol)
J.K. Simmons (Milton Berle)
Willem Dafoe (David Tebet)
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Synopsis:
At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.
Why it’s getting Oscar buzz:
SNL has a legendary hair and makeup team that rapid-fire transforms its cast for celebrity impersonations. Now, the film's hair and makeup teams are being lauded for transforming the celebrity cast into the original SNL players.
For More:
Full Telluride Line up. Including a boatload of previous festival award winners (Anora, All We Imagine as Light, Emilia Perez).
Trailer for Telluride selection Blink, a Nat Geo documentary on a couple who takes their kids around the world before they go blind.
Trailer for Ken Burns doc on Leonardo DiVinci, another Telluride selection.
Telluride runs through Labor Day.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Universal revealed Jurassic World Rebirth details. This is the studio’s fourth film in the Jurassic World trilogy, which has had an impressive yet declining gross:
Jurassic World (2015)
$1.67 bn WW
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
$1.3 bn WW
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
$1 bn WW
Here’s the official synopsis for the new film, set five years after, Jurassic World Dominion:
The planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs… Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.
New character details have also dropped:
Scarlett Johansson
Covert Ops Expert extracting dino DNA
Hiding in the dense foliage, first look image
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Paleontologist, Johannson’s partner
Scared straight, first look image
Opening July 2nd, 2025. Teaser here.
STX Entertainment is making a Big Foot Movie! This is not arthouse, like Sasquatch Sunset, but a full-on horror.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A beast terrorizes a modern housing development in a small mountain town. The attacks lead to the town’s new sheriff fighting for her daughter’s life.
Citizen Skull Productions also produces, with President Mark Myers stating:
“When I read the script, I was absolutely blown away. This movie is incredibly terrifying. It’s going to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.”
Filming will take place in the fall in Big Foot country, Crystal Mountains, Washington State.
No cast has been set, but we hear that Jesse Eisenberg is available.
Wallace and Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl is appearing on BBC this Christmas. The first trailer features the return of dastardly Feathers McGraw, this new one introduces a new creepy little robo Gnome. It’s an AI parable. The first, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit (2005), took an Oscar for Best Animated Film and grossed $192 M worldwide. The new movie, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, will be available on Netflix following its Christmas release.
Movie Piracy Site Sunk: Vietnamese authorities, in collaboration with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), have shut down the Hanoi-based streaming site Fmovies, which was responsible for the world’s largest piracy operation with over 6.7 billion visits. This historic takedown marks a major victory against online piracy.
Ridley Scott’s director's cut of Napoleon has been released on Apple TV+ with 48 minutes of new footage, offering a deeper exploration of Napoleon's rise and his turbulent relationship with his wife Josephine. It will also restore a cut scene at the battle of Marengo.
Michelle Mendelovitz’s sudden exit as Head of Mattel Television Studios signals may bring legal action. Mendelovitz hired attorney Bryan Freedman, hinting at broader executive departures and unresolved conflicts within the company.
TIFF Offical Selection The Shadow Strays (dir: Timo Tjahjanto, Nobody 2) delivers a rapid-fire crosscutting action teaser. If you’re into action films, it’s for you. Releasing on Netflix on October 17th.
Michel Gondry and Pharrell Williams’ musical, now called Atlantis will debut on May 9, 2025. Set in 1977 Virginia Beach, it features original songs by Williams and Pasek & Paul.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Barry Keoghan is in Netflix’s upcoming Peaky Blinders movie.
While exact plot details, release dates, and Keoghan’s character are being kept under wraps, the film is said to take place not long after the events in the hit series’ final season, show creator Steven Knight has returned to pen the script with series alum Tom Harper to direct.
Keoghan, who played a major role in Martin McDonagh’s heavily nominated The Banshees of Inisherin (2022, trailer), also starred in Nolan’s WWII epic Dunkirk (2017, scene) alongside Cillian Murphy, who will be returning for the Peaky Blinders movie, formally having played the lead in the series, Thomas Shelby, the power-hungry ringmaster and leader of his family.
Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte are now in Lynee Ramsay’s (Dir: You Were Never Really Here) latest film, Die, My Love. No character details have been revealed but the plot shares shades of other films the actors have been in before.
Die, My Love logline:
In a remote, forgotten rural area, a mother (Jennifer Lawrence) struggles to maintain her sanity as she battles with psychosis.
Similarly, in Carrie (1976), Sissy Spacek tries to maintain her sanity as her supernatural powers lay waste to everything in her path (trailer).
Spacek also starred in Paul Schrader’s Affliction (1997) along with Nick Nolte, who plays a small-town cop who investigates a suspicious hunting death while other events jeopardize his sanity (trailer).
Both actors are at their best when driven to their wits’ ends. Remember Nolte’s constant frustration with Eddie Murphy in 48hrs (clip).
It’s a masterful casting decision, and these two will join Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, and LaKeith Stanfield.
Read more about how Die, My Live’s hyperbolic intensity is perfect for Ramsay’s filmmaking:
https://theindustry.co/p/we-need-to-talk-about-lynne-ramsay
Peter Sarsgaard plays an ABC reporter who covered the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attacks in a film titled September 5.
Sarsgaard discussed his preference on set:
“I’m the opposite of a perfectionist. It really helps with acting because I don’t try to smooth or shape something out... I have a rabbit brain and if I do the same character for a long time, I’m going to get bored.”
That works as September 5 breaths by this minute-by-minute intensity enhanced by director Tim Fehlbaum's integration of live news footage into the film.
No word on distributor or release date, but we hope it is sooner than next September 5th. Here’s the German-language trailer.
Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira leads a new musical rom-com, Mile End Kicks, for XYZ Films.
Synopsis:
Set in the summer of 2011, Mile End Kicks follows Grace Pine (Ferreira), a 24 year old music critic who moves to Montreal intending to write a book about Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.” Her plans take an unexpected turn when she becomes romantically involved with two members of the same struggling indie rock band and decides to become their publicist.
Ferreira stars alongside the indie feature’s writer and director, Chandler Levack (I Like Movies) which is both set and in production in Montreal.
Nobody Wants This, yet Kristen Bell (A Good Place) and Adam Brody (The O.C.) seem to in a freshly dropped trailer for Netflix’s new romcom series.
Synopsis:
Follows the unexpected relationship between a roque rabbi and an irascible, loud, agnostic woman.
Show creator Erin Foster based the reluctant lovestory on her own life with Kevin Can F**k Himself’s Craig DiGregorio acting as showrunner.
Will they? Won’t they? Should They? All these questions will be answered when Nobody Wants That premieres on Netflix on Sept. 26th.
Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color) is getting into the sci-fi genre again. Her new film is Planet B. Exarchopoulos plays an eco-activist leader whose commitment and sacrifice land her in an unknown planet prison. Here’s a teaser image. The film is currently playing at Venice.
Pray for Julia’s baby. Julia Garner (Ozark) is starring in a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Apartment 7A for Paramount+.
Here’s the official synopsis:
When a struggling young dancer (Garner) suffers a devastating injury, she finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected older couple promises her a shot at fame. Set in 1965 New York City, the film tells the story prior to Roman Polanski’s horror classic Rosemary’s Baby, exploring what happened in the apartment before Rosemary moved in.
This is no dream (trailer)! Apartment 7A will drift onto Paramount+ Sept 27th.
FESTIVALS
Venice Film Festival is in full swing. Here are the latest and greatest films that have just dropped trailers:
One to One: John & Yoko (Out of Competition)
Dir: Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland)
Synopsis:
Controversial couple John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono’s life following The Beatles infamous breakup.
MacDonald stated:
“I wanted to make a film that surprises and delights even the most dedicated Lennon and Ono fans by focusing on one transformative period in their lives and telling the tale through their own words, images, and music.”
Here’s the kaleidoscoping, colorful, rocking trailer.
After Party (Orizzonti Side Bar)
Dir: Vojtĕch Strakatý
Sales Agent: Film Republic
Synopsis:
Carefree Jindřiška (23) discovers that her father owes a lot of money when debt collectors arrive to confiscate their house. In a single day, Jindřiška's world falls apart, forcing her to choose between helping her father or saving herself before it's too late.
A gambling addiction is seen through the eyes of a daughter in a tense but surprisingly bright trailer.
Dir: Luis Ortega
Producer: Axel Kuschevatzky (Co-Producer: Wild Tales)
Synopsis:
Remo's self-destructive behavior overshadows his talent. Abril, an upcoming jockey is pregnant by Remo and has to decide between child or continuing to race. They both race for Sirena, an businessman who saved Remo's life in the past.
Gangster comedy teaser trailer.
Plus, check out the lineup for the 11 official selections for the London Film Festival here. Including Bring Them Down (cast: Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan)
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Annapurna is taking control of television. The movie production (Her, The Master, Sausage Party) turned video game publisher turned back to a production company is double-dipping into two of its most intriguing interconnected video game worlds with plans to make franchises for film and TV.
Let's start with Control, released in 2019 this 3rd person psycho shooter explored a vast world with talking guns, visions levitating, and telekinesis; we followed Jesse Faden as she went deeper into the Federal Bureau of Controls headquarters, unlocking special powers and learning more about her past.
The game was incredibly popular, and Annapurna recently announced a sequel.
Alan Wake is Control's weirder older brother, though set in the same universe as Control, the two videogames follow titular Allan Wake a writer who seems to have the ability to write what happens in other worlds, including his own. Alan Wake was already teetering pretty close into a TV show, a very weird, almost Lynchian murder mystery with some very strange twists and even a musical number.
Though Alan Wake achieved critical acclaim and a Game of the Year nod, Remedy reported recently that the game had not sold very well and, at the time, had not made its money back.
Therefore, it's very heartening that even given that Annapurna could look past the numbers and see the rich, exciting stories both franchises could tell.
Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison stated:
“The way we tell stories is changing… Today people fall in love with characters and universes, not formats, and we’re excited to leverage Remedy’s beloved, immersive narratives in these new mediums.”
Check out the cinematic qualities in both game trailers:
No word yet on when these film projects are on their way, but truly this weird, dark, exciting sandbox to play in, and the excitement is palpable; in terms of video games that need a TV show, these two are top of the list.
Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is adapting an Ingmar Bergman film. Alfredson wrote to Bergman about adapting a film Bergman wrote, Faithless (2000), that played in a competition at Cannes.
Alfredson discussed:
“At the time, my private life was upside down, so I really connected with the themes in the story. Then I thought, I would love to attempt the story with my vision. So I wrote [Ingmar Bergman] a letter. He never replied, but after six months, he called me and said, ‘What the hell is this? What do you mean?’
Alfredson continued:
“This was long before everyone was producing remakes, so it was a very unusual question, especially for Bergman. He liked the initial idea, and we had conversations about it. After a while, he changed his mind and started making trouble. So it evaporated.”
Luckily, Bergman eventually came around and, after two decades, was able to actualize this passion project.
The Faithless series unfolds in the present day.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Renowned director David Howard, 73, is reunited with his former great love, actress Marianne Vogler, 75. Forty years prior, in the main story, a young David and Marianne fall in love and embark on a passionate love affair they must keep a secret, as Marianne is married to David’s best friend, Markus Vogler.
The series is set to release early next year. Here’s the trailer.
Save the nipple! Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory) has just acquired narrative rights to A small documentary about a conservative man’s quest to reconstruct his wife’s nipple after she lost it to cancer is genuine, heartfelt and evocative (trailer). Visit Films (It Follows, Primer) served as a sales rep and Kino Lorber for distribution.
Releasing on all VOD platforms on September 10.
Quiver Distribution has secured North American rights to The Devil and the Daylong Brothers, a Southern Gothic thriller co-starring Academy Award winner Keith Carradine (Nashville). The film follows three brothers seeking revenge on their dad who sold them to the devil before birth in the eerie depths of the American South. Set for release in Q1 2025.
Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to Mad About the Boy – The Noel Coward Story, a doc that delves into the life of one of the 20th century's most prolific writers and entertainers. Through Coward's own diaries, photos, and home movies, the film reveals the man behind the wit, exploring his journey from poverty to becoming a cultural icon, all narrated by Alan Cumming with Rupert Everett voicing Coward. The documentary will open in NYC on October 9th.
The South Park guys buy their childhood favorite restaurant, which looks like Disney Land crossed with Action Park in ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!, an official selection at Tribeca and Telluride. Here’s the trailer. Release date Sept 13th.
ON THIS DAY
2008. Slumdog Millionaire premieres at the Telluride Film Festival (Best Picture 2009).
That’s all for the week. We’re off Monday for the holiday. See you Tuesday.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.