Plagues, Dysentery and the New LA Tax Incentive
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
In The Industry News: Apple’s Trail, Netflix’s Pain & Suffering.
Actor Spotlight: Vincent Cassel at the opera. Lindsay Lohan’s secret. Michael Cera on the run.
Festivals: Romero’s Night of the Living Queens.
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight: Rachel Rose’s Killer Film. Fisher Stevens follows Leonardo DiCaprio’s protocol.
International News: StudioCanal snatches Megalopolis and a 3D Lithuanian film.
Let’s go!
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
“You have died of Dysentery.” Immortal words, from The Oregon Trail video game, one of possibly the most bizarre learning implements of early childhood… which is now getting a film adaption from Apple.
Apple has just announced the action-comedy:
Writers: Lucas Brothers (Judas and the Black Messiah) and Max Reisman.
Dir: Will Speck and Josh Gordon (children’s film directors: Lyle Lyle, Crocodile)
Producer: EGOT winners, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La la Land, The Greatest Showman)
Original gameplay clip
No word on production or attachments just yet, but seems like a fun romp through the not so savory side of history.
California proposes to more than double its tax incentives to $750 M. If this passes, the increase from the current $330 M/year would help bring production back to the state after COVID, labor strikes, and an M&A hellscape.
CA governor Gavin Newsom who proposed the new incentives, stated:
“Expanding this program will help keep production here at home, generate thousands of good-paying jobs, and strengthen the vital link between our communities and the state’s iconic film and TV industry.”
This is much needed, as the film industry's dire contraction has driven production jobs out of California. TV shows filmed in LA are down 22.8%, and streaming shows are down 28%.
Many producers and directors feel it is no longer viable to make a film in the US, when international shooting costs are cheaper and many countries have high tax incentives (30% Hungary, 25% Bulgaria).
The executive director of California Film Commission, Colleen Bell, stated:
“We’re losing our market share and there’s no reason… Production companies are just seeking these tax credits. It’s not enough anymore just to be the state with the best crews and the best weather and the best locations.”
If this passes, I hope that CA can allocate a larger portion of the funds to indie films. Currently only 10% of the $115.5 M allocated for film each year goes to features budgeted under $10 M.
If the $750 M proposal passes, it would go into effect July 1st, 2025.
28 Years Later trilogy has completed production on 2 of 3 films. The first in the series is directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, who created the original 28 Days Later (trailer, 2002), which grossed $82.7 M, spawned two sequels, and was the breakout role for actor Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer).
Here’s the 28 Years Later series synopsis, as recounted by one of its stars, Ralph Fiennes:
“Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother. He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them, hiding in forests and hills and woods are the infected. But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good.”
Sony bought the trio of films for a reported price tag of $60M/film. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer also star. No word on the release date.
Tidbit:
Netflix is developing Pain & Suffering, a crime procedural by Netflix’s Florida Man (2024) creator Don Todd. It follows a cynical insurance adjuster solving murders with a homicide cop. This fits Netflix’s recent push for close-ended procedurals. Casting is soon to be announced.
Renewals:
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft animated series (Season 2)
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Vincent Cassel makes his post-Black Swan return to a film centered on a stage productions in The Opera!
The film is based on the classic Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice and includes operas by Mozart, Puccini, and Rossini, as well as pop songs.
Here’s the official description of Cassel’s role:
Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, is reimagined as a gentlemanly taxi driver.
That tracks for Cassel, who has a cunning gravitas, but can flip to deadly at any minute. Just watch him lead Natalie Portman on the path straight to hell in this Black Swan clip.
The Opera! Premiered at Rome Film Festival. No release date has been set. Here’s a dreamy, delirious first look photo.
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Tidbit:
Netflix has a habit of leveraging its algorithm to resurrect actors' careers. The latest actor to get the streamer’s star treatment is Lindsay Lohan, who leads the new rom-com Our Little Secret.
Here’s the synopsis:
Two resentful exes must awkwardly spend Christmas together after learning their new partners are siblings.
The trailer is chock full of hijinks, reminiscent of her work as a child actor (Parent Trap, Freaky Friday). She’s coming off of Netflix’s Irish Wish (2024), which was number one on streaming for two weeks.
Our Little Secret starts streaming on November 27th.
Martin Lawrence’s success with Bad Boys: Ride or Die prompted Sony to greenlight a Blue Streak sequel. Cole Maliska is set to write the screenplay, but no director is attached. The 1999 original, directed by Les Mayfield, starred Lawrence as a thief posing as a cop to retrieve stolen loot (original trailer).
Scott Mescudi, better known as Kid Cudi joins Happy Gilmore 2, Netflix's sequel starring Adam Sandler, with Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald reprising their roles. Directed by Kyle Newacheck, the film also includes cameos by Travis Kelce and Bad Bunny. The original Happy Gilmore (1996) follows a failed hockey player who joins golf to save his grandmother’s house. It is arguably one of Sandler's most famous roles.
It is expected to arrive on Netflix in March 2025.
From Blumhouse and Amazon MGM Studios, Weeds alum Hunter Parrish joins the cast of the upcoming mystery series, Scarpetta, alongside Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis. Adapted from Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta novels, the series has already been greenlit for two seasons with big time TV producer Liz Sarnoff (Lost, Barry) attached as a writer and showrunner. There is no word yet on when production will begin on Scarpetta.
Michael Cera and Emilia Jones (Coda) are joining The Running Man. They’re one of about a half dozen actors that have been cast in the last few weeks, including Lee Pace, Josh Brolin, Katy O'Brian, and Karl Glusman. Release date: Nov 21st, 2025. Director: Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz).
David Harris, best known for his role as Cochise in The Warriors (1979), died at 75 from cancer. Known for his iconic look, he starred in films like Brubaker and A Soldier’s Story and appeared in Law & Order. He is survived by his family, including two grandchildren. He will be missed.
FESTIVALS
AFM kicks off November 5th, and two new projects are set to launch:
Dir: Tina Romero (daughter: George Romero)
Starring: Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding)
Production Company: IFCFilms/Shudder
International Sales Rep: Charades (After Sun)
Synopsis:
Drag queens and club kids battle zombies craving brains during a zombie outbreak at their drag show in Brooklyn, putting personal conflicts aside to utilize their distinct abilities against the undead threat.
No word on production dates, but it’ll be great to see what a zombie movie from the daughter of the man who invented the genre.
Synopsis:
Follows a family fighting for survival against a raging bush fire and a pack of trained killer dogs at an isolated Outback lodge in Australia.
Shooting in Australia in May 2025.
The Bell Tolls at MIPCOM with the recently launched 10-part Hemingway series. Avatar Entertainment optioned the rights to a 750pg Ernest Hemingway: A Biography by Mary V. Dearborn and was shopping the series at the festival.
Head of Avatar Entertainment, Larry Robinson, stated the project was:
“The foundational IP for an awards-worthy, super-premium TV series that will attract major talent both in front and behind the camera.”
No word yet on any talent/production attachments.
Mike Wiluan (Co-Producer: Monkey Man) has made a wild WW2 creature feature, Orang Ikan (2024).
Here’s the synopsis:
Set in the Pacific, 1942. A Japanese soldier and a British prisoner of war are stranded on a deserted island, hunted by a deadly creature. Two mortal enemies must come together to survive the unknown.
On the surface its a story about shared enemies forging unlikely friendships but ends up being about the dangers of alienating and othering our enemies until we see them as non-human.
Here’s the intense trailer.
The film will world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival beginning today.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Vancouver-based filmmaker Rachel Rose’s directorial debut The Last Day has wrapped filming in New York with Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), You’s Victoria Pedretti, and Narcos’ Wagner Moura leading the cast.
Official Synopsis:
On a July 4th in New York, Julia, a writer and mother, encounters figures from her past and a troubled young mother, prompting her to confront her lack of creative purpose and rediscover herself within the life she has.
The Last Day is said to be loosely adapted from Virginia Wolf’s classic novel, Mrs. Dalloway, revolving around themes of memory, time, and the complexity of inner lives.
Rose’s previous work in the directing chair includes the 30-minute 2019 short, Enclosure, a period heist story very reminiscent of an avant-garde horror film similar to Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse. Her short was produced by Animal Kingdom’s David Kaplan, who has now formed his own production company Kaplan Morrison (The Brutalist). Killer Films (Past Lives, May December) serves as the production company.
Rose’s indie project is expected to run the festival circuit next summer.
Fisher Stevens (dir: Palmer, Stand Up Guys) is directing The Montreal Protocol.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A true story of underdog scientists who set out to repair the hole in the ozone layer and avoided a global environmental catastrophe.
Stevens has a killer producing team, including Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way. No word on production dates.
Tidbits:
Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films acquired North American rights to Bruce David Klein’s documentary Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, chronicling Liza Minnelli’s life and career. Premiering at Tribeca, the film has screened at multiple festivals. A theatrical release at IFC Center is planned for early 2025, with a national rollout in tandem.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
StudioCanal has acquired European TV and streaming rights to Megalopolis in a seven-year deal, excluding Spain, Russia, and France's pay-one window. Despite the film's underwhelming box office ($12.5 M on a $120 M budget), StudioCanal is betting on its long-term appeal as many of Coppola’s classics were panned when they were first released (at least that’s what we garnered from that AI trailer).
Already managing Coppola’s classics like Apocalypse Now, StudioCanal hopes interest in Megalopolis will grow over time.
To anyone that hasn’t seen the film, check it out, it’s is a zany, profound ride by a master who paints the film with some marvelous cinematic moments and powerful comments about the nature of being an artists.
Megalopolis is set to release on VOD on November 12th.
The first 3D Lithuanian film is Twittering Soul. Here’s the synopsis:
A musician on his way to meet a fellow fiddler, encounters two girls and is taken aback by their talks about afterlife. The musicians walk towards a village observing events, unable to discern fantasy from reality. Later, both men attend a funeral, where archaic rituals intertwine with the practice of marrying a dead girl to an 'afterlife groom'.
The trailer has a stark fantasy element with creepy floating bodies and animals lurching out of people’s mouths.
The film is screening today at Anthology Film Archives in NYC.
ON THIS DAY
2001. Donnie Darko is released.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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