Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Paramount’s sweet bid, Universal’s great hit, and Magnolia’s Sundance buy.
Let’s go!
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Willa’s Oscar-nominated Best International Feature, The Voice of Hind Rajab, is a deeply moving watch and a beautiful film. The movie stayed with me long after it ended. And allowed me to see how to hold on to my humanity amid so much chaos.
See why Brad Pitt, Rooney Mara, and Joaquin Phoenix joined as EPs.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Paramount sweetens its WBD bid. $30.00/share +$.25/quarter post 2026.
Searchlight tees up an untitled film with Rhys Thomas + Anonymous Content.
Amy Sherman-Palladino to write/direct Universal’s The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits.
Fifth Season adapts viral TikTok series TravelWithLivii into a scripted show.
Disney hires casting exec Tricia Wood as EVP/Head of Casting.
Buchwald elevates Julia Buchwald to CEO.
Ana de Armas + Jennifer Connelly in talks to star in Apple’s Safe Houses.
Greyhound 2 has Stephen Graham returning to his role.
Ariela Barer replaces Odessa A’zion in A24’s Deep Cuts.
EFM packages:
Skeletons (Brie Larson; Bad Robot/FilmNation)
Paul Schrader’s Non Compos Mentis (Caleb Landry Jones)
In a Violent Nature 2
Scorpion (Clive Owen)
Magnolia buys Sundance’s I Want Your Sex (seven figures).
Fremantle exec Andrew Llinares exits.
Final Call - F1 Panel. We’ve now added a 4th guest, Oscar-nominated VFX Supervisor Robert Harrington.
A deeply moving watch and a beautiful film. Click here for more info.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Paramount sweetens its bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery:
$30.00/share (Enterprise Value: $108.4bn) - all cash
+$2.8bn to cover the Netflix/WB break-up fee
+$1.5bn in debt refinancing fees
+$.25/share for every quarter post Dec 31, 2026, if the deal doesn’t close. ($650M/quarter)
To fund Paramount’s deal ($77.9bn + assumption of debt), some partners have come into the mix:
$43.6bn from the Ellison family + RedBird Capital Partners
Executive: Jeff Shell (former CEO, NBCUniversal)
Personal guarantee of $43.3bn in funds from Larry Ellison
$54bn bridge loan from Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo
There’s also talk of Germany coming in to replace the previous $24bn from three sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf.
The deal will expire Feb 20th. WBD has confirmed they will review.
My theory has been that WBD is playing the long game to see how high Paramount and Larry Ellison’s ($209bn net worth) endless funds will go. Plus, they have the safe option of Netflix, currently undergoing its own hellish grilling by lawmakers.
Full Paramount bid details here.
Tidbits:
Searchlight’s latest project has no logline, but a great team:
Dir/Co-Writer: Rhys Thomas (dir: 3eps Disney+’s Hawkeye, co-creator: Documentary Now!, prod/dir: SNL).
Co-Writer: Andrew Nunnelly (Plan B’s The Waffle House Index from The Black List)
Prod Co: Anonymous Content
We expect this to be zany, thoughtful, and high-energy.
NYT bestseller The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is getting the Amy Sherman-Palladino treatment. The Gilmore Girls creator will write and direct Universal’s feature adaptation of Jennifer Weiner’s in-demand novel. The story follows a pair of sisters, who, despite being launched into pop stardom, find that the price of fame may tear them apart. From Gilmore to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it’s safe to say Palladino knows a thing or two about complicated family dynamics.
Fifth Season knows the power of social media. Olivia Ferney’s viral TikTok series TravelWithLivii is being adapted into a scripted series, marking a bold, game-changing move for the Severance studio. “A concierge for billionaire clients,” the series is inspired by Ferney’s videos chronicling her lavish five-star trips. Similar to A24’s Zola (2020), adapted from a viral Twitter thread, Fifth Season is potentially positioning itself at the forefront of the next phase of TV.
Mini Tidbits:
Disney hires Paramount Pictures’ Tricia Wood (CD: Oscar-winning CODA and La La Land) as EVP and Head of Casting. Wood will oversee the studio’s expansive slate, including 20th Century projects.
Paramount names Flywheel Media (Angry Birds 3) founder Don McGregor as their Global Licensing Chief. Beyond the leadership switch-up, the company announced extensive plans to expand its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, including everything from a partnership with Mattel to a preschool-aged mini-series.
Bicoastal talent agency Buchwald has promoted Julia Buchwald to CEO and Djimon Hounsou’s longtime representative, Ryan Martin, to co-president. The agency’s roster spans clients from One Piece star Mackenyu to horror actress Lin Shaye (Insidious).
The pilot for NBC’s upcoming comedy The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins will air for a second time after the Feb. 28th SNL episode. It shouldn’t come as a shock, considering the sitcom stars former SNL cast members Tracy Morgan and Bobby Moynihan with Tina Fey EPing.
Trailers:
1-2 Special’s Erupcja
Cast: Charli xcx
Premiere: TIFF/SXSW
Release: April 17
Nat Geo’s Ghost Elephants
Dir: Werner Herzog
Premiere: Venice
Release: Feb 27
Netflix’s One Piece (S2)
Release: March 10
Kino Lorber’s Yes
Dir: Nadav Lapid (The Kindergarten Teacher)
Premiere: Cannes (out of competition)
Release: Mar 27
First look:
Prime’s Spider-Noir
Newborn
Dir: Nate Parker (Sundance’s The Birth of a Nation)
Cast: David Oyelowo (Selma)
Made in 2020
Distributor: AMC Theatres
Release: Spring
Release date:
Universal’s The Mummy 4
Star: Brendan Fraser & Rachel Weisz
Release: May 19, 2028
Is this really happening? Yes, check out our breakdown
A deeply moving watch and a beautiful film. Click here for more info.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
A thriller duo we didn’t know we needed. Apple’s upcoming espionage series Safe Houses is in talks to star Ana de Armas and Jennifer Connelly, pairing two actresses with surprisingly complementary career arcs.
Despite being from different generations, both have starred in big-budget action films, de Armas as the fearless CIA agent Paloma in the James Bond feature No Time to Die (2021) and Connelly in the record-breaking sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Similarly, they’ve both delivered strong and complex dramatic performances, unforgettably de Armas as the sharp lead in Knives Out (2019) or Connelly, currently, in Apple TV’s Dark Matter.
Safe Houses combines both following a murder investigation from opposing sides, a fugitive agent (de Armas) and a new widow (Connelly). This is a project I could see them both excelling at.
Stephen Graham will reprise his role as a man of the people on Tom Hanks’s vessel in a sequel to Greyhound. Jack Patten (Robin Hood in MGM+’s Robin Hood) has also been cast. Hanks also wrote the script, with the original director, Aaron Schneider coming on board for the sequel.
The story moves from the Atlantic to the Pacific Theater, following Hanks’ new WWII mission. Currently filming in Australia.
The first film was a COVID release. And drove many people to the Apple TV+ platform. So it’ll be interesting to see if the Hanks film lights up the big screen.
Tidbits:
The Last of Us actress Ariela Barer is joining A24’s Deep Cuts, replacing Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme). From director Sean Durkin (The Iron Claw), Barer will be on screen alongside Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey in the musical coming-of-age.
Make room. Sandra Bernhard (Severance) is joining The White Lotus season four. She was last seen as a part of the eclectic Marty Supreme ensemble as Marty’s wacky neighbor. Joining Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Coogan, and more, the next season of the anthology series will be set in Saint-Tropez, France.
New CBS multi-cam comedy, Regency, adds Rhys Darby (HBO’s Our Flag Means Death) in a leading role. Set in 19th-century England, Darby will be playing the heir to a massive cheese empire who is constantly getting in his own way.
A deeply moving watch and a beautiful film. Click here for more info.
FESTIVALS
5 big projects launching at EFM :
Skeletons
Cast: Brie Larson
Dir: JT Mollner (Strange Darling)
Wri: Brian Duffield (No One Will Save You), based on the short story by Philip Fracassi
Prod: J.J. Abrams (Bad Robot)
Exec Prod: Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen, Brian Duffield, Brie Larson
Intl Sales: FilmNation
Domestic Sales: FilmNation, CAA, WME
Synopsis:
A young boy slowly discovers that his beloved parents are hiding a disturbing secret about his mother’s true nature in this modern creature horror.
Non Compos Mentis
Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Caleb Landry Jones, Dianne Wiest
Dir: Paul Schrader
Sales Rep: Fortitude Films
Synopsis:
In this dark tale of passion and folly, a man's intense desire leads him down a dangerous path. As his obsession grows, he makes increasingly irrational choices, blurring the line between love and madness in a gritty, noir-inspired world.
In a Violent Nature 2
Sales Rep: Charades (Sorry, Baby, Flow)
Currently in post
The first film from IFC grossed $4.5M on a $500K budget.
Scorpion
Cast: Clive Owen
Dir: Richard Hughes (The Enforcer w/ Antonio Banderas)
Worldwide sales rep: WestEnd Films
Synopsis:
A young police officer is on his first assignment with an elite tactical unit of Afghanistan veterans. During a nighttime raid on a remote farmhouse, the operation turns into a deadly trap.
Boddyman
Cast: Nick Jonas
Worldwide sales rep: A Higher Standard (Solo Mio, Playdate)
Synopsis:
An eccentric billionaire unexpectedly signs over his nepo-baby children’s expected inheritance of his private military company to his longtime bodyguard (Jonas).
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Magnolia picks up Sundance’s I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. It’s a sweet seven-figure deal for the risqué crowd-pleaser.
Synopsis:
When fresh-faced Elliot (Hoffman) lands a job with artist and provocateur Erika Tracy (Wilde), his fantasies come true as she taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal, and murder.
This is Gregg Araki's first film in over a decade. Wilde and Hoffman’s dynamic is awkward and electric in the film.
No word on release date. Magnolia’s previous Sundance pick-up was Thelma (2024), which made a strong $13M worldwide.
Sean Baker’s new fashion short film premiering at Berlin has a bit of a flavor of Everything Everywhere All At Once.
It’s not just that the main character in this film plays multiple interconnected characters: a hawker, a waitress, a critic, a vlogger, and a singer.
It’s that character that is played by Michelle Yeoh, the star of the multiverse fantasia Best Picture Winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once. It’s easy to see why Baker would cast her in such a project; she slips into roles so easily.
Here’s the trailer for Sandiwara.
Tidbits:
Amelia Dimoldenberg gets self-reflexive with her rom-com for Orion Pictures. If you don’t know Dimoldenberg, she’s the creator of the interview show Chicken Shop Date, which has a fun, flirtatious style (Idris Elba clip). She will produce and star in a film about a serious journalist who falls head over heels during a celebrity interview. Will Ferrell’s Gloria Sanchez Productions produces, and Sarah Heyward (Girls) will write.
After an intense bidding war, Fremantle’s Red Planet Pictures (BBC’s Death In Paradise) has acquired the rights to the new crime novel It’s Not What You Think. Kam Odedra, who most recently wrote the finale of Peacock's hit All Her Fault, is adapting the novel for TV.
Criterion Channel acquires Alison McAlpine’s Oscar-nominated short doc, perfectly a strangeness, a film where three donkeys encounter observatory telescopes. Wonderfully weird and profound. Streaming March. Trailer.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Fremantle’s Director of Global Entertainment Andrew Llinares is exiting the company after a little over two years. An EP and showrunner on major unscripted competition series like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, Llinares is leaving the company to pursue more creative endeavors.
Despite the leadership changes, the UK giant is strengthening things over in the states with two new senior U.S. hires.
Former Head of A.I. at A+E Global Media, Jhamal Robinson, will be Head of U.S. Productions, Unscripted and Scripted, and Emily Knight, coming from AGC Television (Peacock’s Those About to Die), as SVP of Unscripted Development.
Mini Tidbits:
BritBox and ITV’s reboot of detective series Dalziel and Pascoe casts Kerry Godliman (After Life) and Nina Singh (Virdee) as its leads. The female take on the original series sees the actresses playing clashing detectives who somehow are able to form a formidable partnership.
Dubai-based production company Phars Film (dist. Parasite) nabs international distribution rights to Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups. With a powerful drug cartel pulling all the strings, the trailer begins with chaos set against a dramatic rock score.
ITV Studios’ Lifted Entertainment (prod. Love Island) has completely restructured its leadership team. Producer Richard Cowles has been promoted to CEO, with BBC executives Chantal Boyle (Stranded on Honeymoon Island) and Ros Coward (My Mum, Your Dad) also being brought on.
BAFTA-winning TV writer James Menzies (BBC’s Murder in Successville) is launching Pointy Stick, a new comedy-led production studio with ad agency director Rob Bovington (Volkswagen, Nespresso).
Written by Gabriel Miller and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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