Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Scarlett Johansson’s Demons, Noah Hawley’s Cry, and a Griffin.
Let’s go!
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Scarlett Johansson will tap back into her darker nature.
She is set to star in a reboot of The Exorcist for director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep) for Universal and Blumhouse.
While William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1974) is a collision between modern secularism and old-world religion, the subsequent five films have also been about the corruption of innocence. That’s tailor-made for Johansson, who has made a career of characters whose purity is eroded.
In her breakout Lost in Translation, there’s the emotional horror of a distant husband who drains her goodwill and pushes her to seek solace in Bill Murray, the only person who understands her interior life.
In Her, she’s given consciousness only to discover that living with a lesser being diminishes her emotional limits. So, to remain whole, she moves beyond him.
In these two films, her moving away from her initial object of desire allows her to reach an emotional kind of nirvana.
While in Under the Skin (her role most akin to horror), her opening up to purity becomes her physical undoing. She starts as the monster and becomes more human. And of course, because the character arc is flipped, that destroys her.
So whether Johansson is the demon in The Exorcist who takes on a more human role (yes, please) or an exorcist with a saintly demeanor à la Max Von Sydow who slowly gets corrupted by what they witness, we’re in for a hell of a time.
For More:
The Exorcist (1974) 4K trailer.
Under the Skin trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
FX orders a Far Cry anthology series from Noah Hawley (Fargo) and Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny).
Diego & Natalia Boneta will EP an Amazon medical drama.
Sinclair bids $7/share ( ~$538M) to acquire all of E.W. Scripps.
Amazon MGM acquires Rebecca Yarros’ ballet novel Variation for film adaptation.
Sony buys rights to James Islington’s Hierarchy fantasy series.
ABC orders pilot for The Rookie spinoff starring Jay Ellis.
Alexandra Shipp to star in psychological horror The Autopsy of Albert Kemper.
Lil Dicky developing an original animated feature at DreamWorks Animation.
Chloë Sevigny joins atmospheric horror-thriller The Lonely Woman.
Corey Stoll and Julia Stiles to star in psychological thriller Recap (K Period Media).
DOC NYC International Grand Jury Prize: Imago.
Critics’ Choice Awards shortlists released, Warner Bros snags 36 placements.
Fantasy short Em and Selma Go Griffin Hunting adds Roy Lee (Barbarian) as EP.
Mubi appoints VJ Carbone as new VP of Communications.
Angel Studios boards Butch Hartman’s animated holiday film The Christmas King!
ITV greenlights thriller Gone from Lupin creator George Kay.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
FX is turning the Far Cry video game series into an anthology series headed by the king of anthology, Noah Hawley (Fargo), and Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Each season will follow the games’ tradition of standalone stories in new settings with new casts. The video games follow a formula of a protagonist caught in a hostile situation who must escape by amassing firepower and skills. To date, the six mainline series have taken place in a variety of locations, including tropical islands, a fictional kingdom based on Nepal, post-apocalyptic Montana, and, most recently, a fictional island based on Cuba.
Hawley compares the format to Fargo’s seasonal variations, aiming for a shifting, high-action tableau. With Fargo changing time periods and locations with each season, getting a new cast, this is right down his alley, not to mention his steady hand with grisly violence. I trust anything Hawley does, but this seems like a match made in heaven.
Far Cry, with over 100 million players since 2004, last released Far Cry 6 featuring Giancarlo Esposito (known for Breaking Bad) in 2021.
The most recent DLC trailer gives a good peek at 3 previous locations we could see in the show.
Diego and Natalia Boneta are EPing an Amazon medical drama series. If you don’t know who this brother-sister team is, they’re big internationally. Diego started off his acting career in Rock of Ages opposite Tom Cruise and then went on to play the titular role in Luis Miguel: The Series. He’s also won over some arthouse directors in Mexico, giving a strong performance in Michel Franco’s The Order.
This new Amazon series, produced through Boneta’s first-look deal with the company, is said to be like ER in Mexico.
Probably a great conceit as HBO’s The Pitt took home the Emmy for Best Drama Series, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
Sinclair has made a bold move. The nation’s second-largest TV-station owner (185 local stations, ~11% of all FCC-licensed broadcast stations) is offering $7/share to acquire all of E.W. Scripps (60 local stations), a $538M offer. Sinclair already owns nearly 10% of the company.
The combined company would be (per Sinclair’s projection):
Market cap: $2.9B
Total stations: 245
Estimated cost savings: $325M
Sinclair’s bid was unsolicited.
Two studio book pickups:
Fourth Wing author Rebecca Yarros’ ballet novel Variation is getting a film adaptation with Amazon MGM Studios and (the best person for the job) prima ballerina Misty Copeland via her Life in Motion production banner. It Ends With Us (2024) screenwriter Christy Hall is penning the script, which follows a ballerina returning to her family’s summer house to rest from her career-ending injury, where she unexpectedly finds love with an old childhood crush. Alongside Copeland, Obama’s Higher Ground (Leave the World Behind) is also producing.
Sony Pictures has snapped up the film rights to James Islington’s Hierarchy series, BookTok’s latest viral obsession. The acquisition arrives just as the second installment, The Strength of the Few, debuted at No. 1 on the NYT bestseller list. Epic fantasy meets political intrigue; the series follows a young man in a Roman Empire-like future society, infiltrating a magical empire. With the series at the height of its popularity, Sony could possibly be eyeing its next big franchise.
Mini Tidbits:
James Cameron’s Billie Eilish 3D concert film, Hit Me Hard and Soft, has announced its release date via Paramount, releasing on March 20, 2026. It replaces the delayed Stone Parker Kendrick Lamar project. Eilish announced it at her tour finale. Paramount is hoping for some Eras Tour-level momentum.
ABC has ordered a pilot for a spinoff of police drama The Rookie, starring Jay Ellis (Insecure). In The Rookie: North, Ellis plays Alex Holland, a midlife newcomer joining the Pierce County Police after a traumatic home invasion. If picked up, it becomes the franchise’s second spinoff, following The Rookie: Feds.
Renewals:
Hulu’s All’s Fair (for S2)
Star: Kim Kardashian
Hulu’s Love Thy Nader (for S2)
Trailers:
Janus Films’ Carol & Joy (short doc)
Criterion Debut: Dec 1
Netflix’s Simon Cowell: The Next Act (doc)
Release: Dec 10
AMC’s Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale (S2)
Release: Dec 25
HBO’s Industry (S4)
Release: Jan 11
CBS/Paramount+’s Y: Marshals
Creator: Taylor Sheridan
Release: Mar 1, 2026
A Sad And Beautiful World
Lebanon’s Oscar Entry
Release dates:
Bleecker Street’s STOP! THAT! TRAIN!
Dir: Adam Shankman
Cast: RuPaul
Release: May 29, 2026
Synopsis:
Two train stewardess BFFs switch from a dull railway to the luxurious Glamazonian Express. During a massive storm, they must work with snooty first-class crew and President Gagwell to prevent disaster in LA.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Barbie actress Alexandra Shipp is trying out a psychological horror. She is set to headline The Autopsy of Albert Kemper from writer-director David Benullo (Girl Who Vanished).
A sharp pivot from both Barbieland and even her thunderous turn as Storm in the X-Men (clip) franchise, Shipp will play a morgue assistant who spirals into panic when the body of a serial killer begins “showing signs of something beyond death”.
Shipp stars alongside Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction) and Art the Clown’s David Howard Thornton (Terrifier franchise), with production ongoing in Minnesota.
Tidbits:
Comedy rapper Lil Dicky is moving on from his semi-biographical show Dave, now aspiring for Hollywood. He has begun the process of pitching an original animated feature to DreamWorks Animation. Plot details are under wraps. Dave had a great cringe comedy vibe that satirised the music industry but had a surprising heart. Could be a good fit.
Chloë Sevigny loves the weird and sensual, joining her dream project, The Lonely Woman, an atmospheric horror-thriller feature from electronic music duo Boy Harsher (Augustus Muller and Jae Matthews). The film follows a woman (Sevigny) haunted by her first love’s death who, drawn into a new disappearance, confronts the seductive and mysterious presence beneath the town.
K Period Media (Suspiria) is producing Recap, an independently financed psychological thriller starring Corey Stoll (House of Cards) and Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You). The plot has not been revealed yet, but the creative team comes from darker genre shows like Supernatural, Criminal Minds, and Resident Evil. The eight-episode series shoots in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Dennis Quaid will host Saving Yellowstone, a docuseries that follows threats to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This is apparently a personal interest for Quaid, who is passionate about the environment. Chris Grant’s (Timebandits) Osmosis Global is now financing and distributing. With Quaid’s involvement, hopefully, it will help sell the project internationally.
Mini Tidbit:
Hulu and Greg Berlanti’s Foster Dade pilot cast Cameron Mann (Mare of Easttown) in a lead role. Like his supporting role in his debut feature Eddington, the young actor will play a “golden boy” whose outer confident persona masks his insecure inner self.
British actress Jill Freud (Love Actually) has died at 98. Working as C.S. Lewis’ housekeeper at the time, Freud acted as the inspiration for Lucy in his Chronicles of Narnia books and would later go on to act on stage in the West End.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
The winners have just been announced for the 16th DOC NYC festival.
Grand Jury Prize for International Competition:
Imago
Synopsis:
When Déni inherits land in Georgia, he dreams of building a childhood treehouse. But returning to a village he barely knows, near the Chechen border where he was born, stirs up feuds, family drama-and the question of who he’ll marry.
The film also won the L’Oeil d’Or prize for Best Documentary at its premiere earlier this year at Cannes.
Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Competition:
Traces of Home
Filmmaker Colette Ghunim takes her parents to find the ancestral homes in Mexico and Palestine that they had fled from decades earlier.
Full list of award winners here.
We have our first shortlist!
The Critics’ Choice Awards (which were accurate in predicting Best Picture at the Oscars 7 out of the last 11 years) have a shortlist for 11 below-the-line categories.
The big winners are (ordered by number of placements):
36 - Warner Bros.
11 - Sinners
7 - One Battle After Another
22 - Netflix
9 - Frankenstein
5 - A House of Dynamite
12 - A24
7 - Marty Supreme
11 - Apple
9 - F1
10 - Universal
9 - Wicked
10 - Neon
4 - No Other Choice
3- Sentimental Value
10 - Focus Features
7 - Hamnet
4 noms - Amazon
4 - Hedda
Lionsgate and IFC each got 4, Searchlight and Paramount each got 3, and Sony, Disney, and 20th Century Studios each got 2. Full breakdown here.
BAFTA has announced its 2025 Breakthrough UK cohort, highlighting a new generation of UK-based talent making serious waves in film, television, and gaming.
Here are three of the most compelling actors from this year’s class:
Akinola Davies Jr:
Director-writer of Cannes title My Father’s Shadow (trailer), the U.K.’s official Oscar submission.
Pinny Grylls:
Director-writer-editor of SXSW’s animated documentary Grand Theft Hamlet (trailer)
Matty Gurney:
The star of the BBC’s revenge thriller series Reunion (trailer)
Past BAFTA Breakthrough performers include actors like Florence Pugh, Josh O’Connor, and Jessie Buckley, so safe to say these are filmmakers you should definitely expect more from.
Supported by Netflix, here is the full list of BAFTA breakthrough artists.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Fantasy short Em and Selma Go Griffin Hunting adds Roy Lee (prod: Barbarian) and Steven Schneider (Strange Darling) as EPs.
The 1930s-set mother-daughter creature hunt stars Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead) and Milly Shapiro (Hereditary).
Hats off to the director/writer Alex Thompson, who, after 4 years of backbreaking VFX work, got the short into Sundance.
It appears to be going for an award-season push, then possibly a feature option.
Brady Corbet’s next film in his words:
“It’s about Northern California’s economy… spans from the 19th century into the present day — it’s just predominantly focused on the ’70s.”
It’s also X-rated, with production kicking off in the summer of 2026.
If you were lucky to catch our workshop with Brady, he goes into a little more detail about his writing process with the film’s dialogue: https://theindustry.co/p/brady-corbet-workshop
Mini Tidbits:
Mubi (Die My Love, Sentimental Value) appoints…
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