Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
Paramount’s Trial, Sony’s Poetry and a Deadlock.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
The Paramount–WBD antitrust trial is set for March 2, 2027.
Paramount streaming profit jumps to $366M (↑ 44%). Paramount+ hits 81.6M subs.
Hearst acquires Disney’s 50% stake in A+E Global Media for $1.2bn.
Sony Pictures Classics picks up Maude Apatow’s Poetic License from Row K.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day crosses $1bn worldwide in just six days.
Jamie Foxx will lead Amazon MGM’s hostage action thriller Deadlocked.
Viola Davis returns to TV as a corporate fixer in Paramount+’s Ascent.
Brittany Snow joins Sydney Sweeney and Kirsten Dunst in The Housemaid’s Secret.
Cooper Raiff will direct Dakota Fanning and Mamoudou Athie in Sleight of Mind.
Godzilla Minus Zero will make its world premiere at NYFF.
Jesse Eisenberg’s musical comedy The Debut will close BFI London Film Festival.
Yesterday’s correct answer: 9 previous live-action Spider-Man films.
65% got it correct.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
A federal judge has set the antitrust trial over the Paramount-WBD merger for March 2nd, 2027, with proceedings expected to last 12 days.
The timeline is later than Paramount wanted but earlier than the coalition of states requested.
Proposed dates:
November 4th, 2026 (Paramount)
April 5th, 2027 (State AGs)
The delayed schedule sounds expensive for Paramount, with the company expected to pay “ticking fees” (roughly $650M/quarter or $7M/day) payable to WBD shareholders beginning September 30, 2026.
But in reality, David Ellison’s father has a net worth of nearly $200bn, and this is a drop in the bucket of their $110bn deal.
David Ellison wrote a NY Times guest essay today, saying the core issue shouldn’t be about the market share of a combined PSKY-WBD, but whether you trust him and his father to own two news organizations (Paramount’s CBS and WBD’s CNN). In a coordinated interview today, Ari Emanuel proposed putting an editorial board over the news organization.
It all seems like a bit of a diversion.
Paramount Skydance has glowing Q2 2026 earnings compared to last year:
$41M profit
↓ 28%
$6.9bn revenue
↑1%
$3.13bn TV/Media revenue
↓ 9%
$1.1bn TV/Media profit
↑17%
$1.31bn Filmed Entertainment (Studios) revenue
↑16%
$36M Filmed Entertainment profit
↑$67M, from last year’s $31M loss
Paramount streaming was way up as the DTC division keeps reporting healthy gains:
$366M profit
↑ 44%
$2.1bn Subscription revenue
↑ 16%
81.6M subs
↑ 2M for the quarter
This quarter boasted the best retention in Paramount+’s history, with big gains due to Dutton Ranch, UFC, and the FIFA World Cup. Plus, Paramount’s unification of Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+ is complete, with cost efficiencies galore.
Tidbits:
One less cable network on Disney’s balance sheet. Disney has agreed to sell its 50% stake in A+E Global Media to Hearst in a deal valued at about $1.2bn. The media conglomerate will become the sole owner of A&E, Lifetime, and the History Channel, while Disney continues trimming its linear TV and shifting the focus to streaming and sports. Closing in September.
Carnival Films loves a good crime adaptation series. The Day of the Jackal and All Her Fault producer has snagged the rights to They Say a Girl Died Here, the upcoming murder mystery novel from author Sarah Pinborough (Netflix’s Behind Her Eyes). The story follows a university dropout who investigates two unexplained murders linked to a small farming town that she, her mother, and dementia-stricken grandmother visit. Pinborough’s newest novel is hitting shelves on Aug. 25.
Sony to the rescue! Maude Apatow’s 2025 directorial debut Poetic License has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for a wide release. The TIFF-premiering comedy was one of several buzzy festival acquisitions by Row K last year, but the financially troubled distributor was forced to give up the film amid unpaid bills. It stars Apatow’s mother, Leslie Mann, as a new empty nester who becomes the object of affection for two inseparable young friends, played by Cooper Hoffman and Andrew Barth Feldman. Poetic License will premiere theatrically sometime next year.
Mini Tidbit:
The Writers Guild of America announces that the awards ceremonies will be held February 13, 2027.
Renewal:
Hulu and Disney+’s Oliver Twist spinoff The Artful Dodger (for S3, final season)
Trailers:
Magnolia’s The History of Concrete
Dir: John Wilson
Release: Sept 18
Beta Cinema’s I Is Another
Dir: Felix Randau
Premiering at Locarno
Universal Pictures’ Violent Night 2
Cast: David Harbour, Kristen Bell
Release: Dec. 4
Paramount+’s Colin from Accounts (S3)
Release: Sept. 10
Release Dates:
Netflix gives Cannes Winner La Bola Negra a 46-day theatrical window, the longest ever for the streamer.
Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Cast: Ella Beatty, Vicky Krieps, Rebecca Hall, Charlie Hunnam
Release: Sept. 17 on Netflix
Warner Bros. Korea’s The Intern
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Han So-hee
Release: Sept. 16
Prime Video’s The Chosen (S6)
Wri/Dir: Dallas Jenkins
Streamer Release: Nov. 15, 2026
Theatrical Release: Mar. 12, 2027
TriCoast Worldwide and Vitagraph Films’ Last Train to Fortune
Dir: Adam Rifkin
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, Bernadette Peters
Release: Sept. 18 (in NY), Sept. 25 (in LA)
Documentary Linkin Park: Unshatter
Dir: band member Joe Hahn
Release: Sept. 30
NBC’s The Voice: Celebrity
Keke Palmer will host with Joe Jonas, Queen Latifah, and Riley Green as coaches
Release: sometime 2027
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Jamie Foxx is leading Amazon MGM’s action film Deadlocked. Directed by Nikhil Bhat (Dir: Kill), the film follows a grieving former Marine serving jury duty who is called back into action when a trial turns into a deadly hostage situation.
Foxx has quietly built an action resume over the years with films like Baby Driver (2017), Project Power (2020), and Day Shift (2022). That last one sees him killing vampires ad nauseam to make enough money to keep his wife and family under his roof (trailer). Foxx has wit and charisma in spades, but these heavy action roles have a way of dulling him.
Free advice: study John Wick 1; there’s no action for the first fifteen-plus minutes of the film. It’s all about grief. If Foxx’s Deadlocked character is built the same way, this could be really compelling.
The film is written by Eric Scot Anderson (Wri: Shooter) and Matt Takejiro Bosack (Prod: NCIS: Hawaiʻi)
Viola Davis knows how to get things done. The Oscar winner is making her return to TV in Paramount+’s thriller series Ascent, created by prolific writer John Logan (Skyfall).
Davis stars as Catriona Vail, a high-powered corporate fixer trusted by billion-dollar clients to solve their biggest crises. But when her estranged daughter finds herself in danger, Vail is forced to put those same talents towards the most personal case she’s ever had to take on.
In Davis’ longest TV role as the brilliant Annalise Keating in the ABC drama How to Get Away with Murder (2014-20), the character was defined not just by her loyalty in defending her clients, but by her selflessness. Constantly cleaning up deeply personal crises, Keating was forced to conceal murders, manipulate evidence, and outmaneuver literally everyone she came across, with some of her greatest challenges coming from protecting those closest to her. Catriona Vail appears to be cut from that same cloth.
Production on Ascent will begin in early 2027 in Los Angeles.
Tidbit:
From The Hunting Wives to The Housemaid. Actress Brittany Snow is joining Lionsgate’s $400M-grossing The Housemaid sequel alongside returning star Sydney Sweeney and fellow newcomer Kirsten Dunst. Based on author Freida McFadden’s second book in the series, The Housemaid’s Secret, more domestic troubles lie ahead, with Snow set to play Marybeth, an unassuming receptionist at the husband in question’s company. Just like her seemingly naive character in Netflix’s The Hunting Wives, it didn’t take long for her to get caught up in the turmoil.
Mini Tidbits:
Rebecca Rittenhouse (Maggie) joins the cast of Hulu’s untitled Cable Guy pilot, inspired by the 1996 Jim Carrey film The Cable Guy (trailer). The series follows an old-school cable technician (Jake Johnson) as he becomes obsessed with a childhood friend he never forgot. Rittenhouse will play Robin.
Heated Rivalry breakout François Arnaud is set to star in Godstar, a dark dramedy from director Oren Shai (SXSW’s The Frontier). After winning over audiences as a closeted hockey player in the hit Crave drama, Arnaud will play the charismatic ex-lover of the female lead, played by Olivia Taylor Dudley, as she prepares for the biggest show of her career.
Sofia Wylie, the star of Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, is one of the last additions to the upcoming Romy and Michele movie. For the highly anticipated sequel, Wylie is reuniting with her High School Musical director Tim Federle, with her role being kept under wraps.
Fox’s New Girl cast reunion will happen at the upcoming Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in Los Angeles on Oct 10.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the 11 feature films making up the Wavelengths program, projects that celebrate boundary-pushing filmmaking.
Here are the ones to watch: https://theindustry.co/p/tiff-wavelengths-2026
NYFF:
Godzilla comes to New York. Godzilla Minus Zero will have its world premiere at the 64th New York Film Festival. The film takes place two years after the events of the previous installment, Godzilla Minus One, in the aftermath of the Godzilla attacks on 1949 Tokyo.
BFI:
Jesse Eisenberg’s musical comedy The Debut, starring Julianne Moore, will be the closing film for the BFI London Film Festival in October.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Cooper Raiff (Dir: Shithouse, Cha Cha Real Smooth) has cast Dakota Fanning (The Watchers) and Mamoudou Athie (Elemental) in his new feature Sleight of Mind.
The film follows a guarded woman who reunites with her estranged father diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in order to claim her inheritance. What begins as a calculated move soon turns into a warm reconciliation between father and daughter. Raiff will work from a script by Ron Bass (Wri: Rain Man).
Sundance wunderkind Cooper Raiff has already shown that he can make a film with the right balance of comedy and heart. For example, Shithouse (2020) blended snarky Gen Z mumblecore with a heartfelt depiction of romance in your 20s.
The plot of this film sounds like it can play directly into his strengths – maybe we might be seeing the rise of another auteur director like Noah Baumbach.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Banijay is setting out the new structure and management in Germany. Following the company’s blockbuster merger with RedBird IMI-owned All3Media, the newly merged banner will be named Banijay Germany. Arno Schneppenheim will be the Chief Creative Officer. The deal created an $8bn global TV production powerhouse, responsible for iconic shows like Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, The Traitors, MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, and more.
Spider-Man is swinging high around the globe. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has achieved the biggest opening weekend of all time for a film in Middle East box-office history, generating $18.4M.
Jack Gleeson (Joffrey in Game of Thrones) and James Nesbitt (Run Away) join the cast of the BBC series Hercule. The show will follow young Hercule Poirot (Edward Bluemel) – a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. We’ve seen Kenneth Branagh portray the detective in 20th Century Studios’ Poirot films.
ON THIS DAY
1959. Steven Knight born in Birmingham, England.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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