Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Searchlight’s Testament, Paramount’s gold, and a rabbit.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Searchlight adds The Testament of Ann Lee to its Oscar slate.
Paramount inks overall deals with James Mangold.
Amazon MGM wraps A Colt Is My Passport.
SNL hires seven new writers for Season 51.
FX orders pilot Very Young Frankenstein.
Sony adapts Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
UTA hires Judy Schwab as Chief People Officer.
Prime Video acquires Civil War limited series The Gray House (prod. Kevin Costner).
Fubo shareholders approve Hulu merger.
HBO Max & Discovery+ expand to Philo.
Univision pulled from YouTube TV after failed negotiations.
Mads Mikkelsen & Diane Kruger star in sci-fi survival thriller Ami.
Jeremy Irons joins Highlander remake.
Maria Bakalova set for John Hyams’ Alzheimer’s thriller.
Nathan Lane boards Jonah Hill comedy Cut Off.
Ira Sachs preps musical fantasia The Man I Love (cast: Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall).
Shudder acquires horror fable The Holy Boy.
Vertical lands revenge thriller Stone Cold Fox.
Grasshopper Films picks up Mare’s Nest.
Roadside to release A Great Awakening.
Tajikistan selects Black Rabbit, White Rabbit for Oscars.
Céline Dion & Omar Sy join Paul McCartney’s animated High in the Clouds.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Searchlight gets musical. This year, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Searchlight would have two Oscar contenders: Rental Family starring Brendan Fraser and Is This Thing On? directed by Bradley Cooper.
Now they’ve acquired The Testament Of Ann Lee, starring Amanda Seyfried for North America and most of the world, and will toss it into the Oscar race.
The film is directed by Oscar Nominee Mona Fastvold (co-writer: The Brutalist) and co-written by Brady Corbet. We did a deep dive into this film and Fastvold’s filmmaking style: https://theindustry.co/p/the-testament-of-mona-fastvold
The film will be released at the end of this year. The deal was in the mid-to-high 7 figures, seemingly matching the film’s budget of under $10M.
Paramount’s menagerie of artists. Paramount has just inked an overall deal with James Mangold (dir: A Complete Unknown).
Since David Ellison acquired Paramount, they’ve been aggressively bringing creators into their fold, including:
Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators: South Park)
$1.5bn streaming deal over 5 years
Will Smith
Timothée Chalamet
$25M for his new film w/ Mangold
The Duffer Brothers (creators: Stranger Things)
Nine-figure 4-year deal
BoulderLight Pictures (prod: Weapons)
$20M over 4 years
It’s actually nice to hear that these creators are being paid what they’re worth to build out Paramount’s ambitious theatrical slate of up to 20 films/year.
FX has ordered a pilot for Very Young Frankenstein, inspired by Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.
The cast includes Zach Galifianakis (Only Murders in the Building), Dolly Wells (Doll & Em), Spencer House (Tell Me Lies), Nikki Crawford (Cruel Intentions), Kumail Nanjiani (The Breadwinner), and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride). Brooks executive produces alongside Stefani Robinson (showrunner), Taika Waititi (pilot director), and Garrett Basch.
The show will stream on Hulu if picked up. With Taika Waititi involved, I think the chances are good; his vampire mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows, was amazing and spun off on FX. What can I say, the man knows the funny side of horror.
Tidbit:
Filming has wrapped in Wales on Gareth Evans’ (dir: The Raid) A Colt Is My Passport, Amazon MGM/Orion’s reimagining of Takashi Nomura’s 1967 Yakuza noir. Set in 1978 Detroit, it follows a Vietnam vet contract killer (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) on the run after assassinating a mob boss. Cast includes Tim Roth, Jack Reynor, and Lucy Boynton. Seeing Evan’s take on noir should be really interesting, restrained but with major action set pieces to be sprinkled throughout, which seems to play to Evan’s strengths.
Atlas Entertainment is adapting Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test into a feature for Sony Pictures. The book chronicles Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters’ psychedelic bus trip, counterculture activism, and LSD experimentation. The book has kind of taken on a cult infamy, and Wolfe’s vivid reportage helped shape New Journalism. Directors are already circling the project, with the blessing from Wolfe’s children and the Roven family estate, who have signed on as EPs. This is a pretty surprising adaptation. Watch this space for more info when it arrives.
Beware of the mama’s boy. Practical Magic producer Di Novi Pictures has brought on casting associate Alan Scott Neal (dir. Last Straw) to direct Motherboy, the highly competitive thriller script from nurse turned screenwriter Tess Brewer. Neal helped cast major productions like Uncut Gems and HBO’s Euphoria with Motherboy, his sophomore directorial venture. Casting is currently underway with production expected to start in 2026.
UTA hires Disney and Apple alum Judy Schwab as their Chief People Officer. Schwab, prior to her role as HR exec at Apple, notably helped launch Disney+ as the company fully embraced the streaming service and significantly expanded globally. Schwab, with over two decades of experience, is the latest move to bolster UTA’s corporate support staff.
Prime Video has acquired The Gray House, a Civil War limited series produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. Directed by Roland Joffe, the eight-part drama follows a network of women spies, including a socialite, freedwoman, and courtesan, who risk their lives to change history. Debut in 2026.
Mini Tidbit:
Fubo shareholders approve their merger with Hulu. Full details here.
Former CEO of A3 (talent agency for Mark Margolis, Carl Weathers, Michael Emerson) has started Atts Entertainment. It’s a management and production company, and he’ll bring some of his clients with him.
HBO Max and Discovery+ are coming to Philo. That’s the streaming service offering a range of TV channels. They’re independently owned and have 3.4M active users. This will help expand HBO’s subscriber numbers.
Univision, the largest Spanish-language broadcaster, is no longer available on YouTube TV. The two sides were unable to come to a negotiation. Thankfully, NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have come to an agreement to extend their deal.
The art of the movie poster is far underappreciated. Renowned Italian designer Renato Casaro has passed away. The man behind iconic posters for major Hollywood films like the Rambo series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Total Recall (1990), Conan the Barbarian (1982), and so many more. His legendary work will forever be remembered and beloved. (clip)
Trailers:
Nat Geo’s Love+War
Premiere: TIFF
Release: Nov 7
Netflix’s People We Meet on Vacation
Star: Tom Blyth
Release: Jan 9, 2026
Viktor
Prod: Darren Aronofsky
Premiere: TIFF Platform
Janus Films’ Resurrection
Dir: Bi Gan
Release: Dec
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Mads Mikkelsen (Doctor Strange) and Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) star in Ami, a Spanish-shot sci-fi survival thriller from debut filmmaker Fernando Szurman.
Mikkelsen plays an astronaut stranded on an alien world with only his Quantum AI companion (Kruger) to guide him.
Mikkelsen is no stranger to science fiction; he had a surprisingly emotional turn in Star Wars: Rogue One, as a scientist forced to work on the Death Star, but secretly engineering its fatal flaw.
The small cast and the confined space are giving me Moon meets Her vibes.
Tidbits:
Jeremy Irons (Watchmen) joins Amazon MGM’s Highlander remake as the villain. Villain is very much in Irons' wheelhouse, and he’s not afraid to go a bit camp, which I think will be what this remake requires. Directed by Chad Stahelski, production begins early 2026 after Cavill’s injury delay.
LaKeith Stanfield is in a double bind. He stars in the new film from John Hyams (Magnolia’s Alone) about a scientist creating a cure for Alzheimer's that begins to experience symptoms of missing time. That’s great as Stanfield thrown into twisty states of psychological discomfort is his sweet spot (see: Sorry to Bother You). Maria Bakalova (The Apprentice) & Georgina Campbell (Barbarian) were just cast.
Titanic actress Frances Fisher leads Ruby Road, a discovering yourself road trip film, from indie filmmaker Talia Lugacy (Tribeca’s Descent). Fisher, best known as Rose’s controversial mother, is joined by Remember the Titans’ Will Patton, character actor M.C. Gainey (Con Air), and Dumb and Dumber’s Lauren Holly. It’s a fitting project for Fisher, who, since the 90s hit, has long favored indie work, but hasn’t had a leading role in an ensemble film in quite some time. Ruby Road expects a 2026 premiere.
Nathan Lane (The Birdcage) has joined Jonah Hill’s Warner Bros. comedy Cut Off, set for release July 17, 2026. Lane plays the patriarch of a wealthy family whose spoiled children (Hill and Kristen Wiig) are suddenly cut off financially, with previously announced Bette Midler as his wife.
Adventure thriller In Tandem casts Benjamin Norris, best known from his supporting roles in Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and ABC’s Abbott Elementary. The thriller has just wrapped production with Norris’ part undisclosed for now.
Sarah Podemski (FX’s Reservation Dogs) stars in the upcoming medical indie feature Patient. Based on filmmaker Lori Felker’s (dir. It Doesn’t Matter) 2023 short of the same name, the story follows a pro-medical actor who faces a real health concern. Podemski’s character has not been announced.
Aldis Hodge (Cross, One Night in Miami) joins Jake Gyllenhaal in Amazon MGM’s Road House sequel, directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry). The original reboot was a surprising smash hit whose biggest strength was not taking itself too seriously, they are vaguely in Florida… and people fight each other. Don’t think about it, just punch and have a good time.
Mia Farrow stays in the picture. The Rosemary’s Baby actress has just signed with The Rosenzweig Group, a boutique talent management company that also reps Patrick J. Adams (star of Suits). She hasn’t been in a film since Dark Horse (2011). We hope to see her more soon.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Ira Sachs revisits the New York of yesteryear in his new movie The Man I Love. The film has a stellar cast:
Rami Malek
Rebecca Hall
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Synopsis:
Set in 80s NYC, Jimmy George (Malek) is an artist living in an extraordinary moment between great illness and death when, still, all beauty and love are possible.
It shares the verisimilitude of Sachs’ latest film, Peter Hujar’s Day, which tracked Ben Whishaw in 1970s NY recounting his day to Rebecca Hall. But The Man I Love is supposed to be a musical fantasia. So we’re quite excited to see what he does with it.
Let’s meet SNL’s newest writers: Saturday Night Live enters Season 51 with seven new writers:
Jack Bensinger – Actor-writer, known for Rap World
Jo Sunday – Stand-up comedian, featured at Just for Laughs
Maddie Wiener – Comic, writer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Rachel Pegram – Actor/writer, credits include Harley Quinn
Claire McFadden – Writer-comedian, trained at Second City
Maxwell Gay – Harvard Lampoon alumnus
Tucker Flodman – Harvard Lampoon alumnus
The new season starts off strong on October 4 with Bad Bunny hosting and Doja Cat as musical guest, followed by Amy Poehler (Oct. 11) and Sabrina Carpenter (Oct. 18).
Tidbits:
Shudder has acquired Paolo Strippoli’s The Holy Boy, following its Venice premiere and Fantastic Fest awards. The horror fable stars Michele Riondino (The Young Montalbano) as Sergio, a tormented teacher who uncovers a sinister ritual in the idyllic village of Remis, where townsfolk worship a boy whose embrace erases pain. Set for 2026 release. The trailer is very strange.
Vertical has landed revenge thriller Stone Cold Fox for U.S. rights. The '80s-set story stars Kiefer Sutherland and Krysten Ritter with Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka in an action-packed race to bring down a ruthless crime syndicate before it destroys everything she loves. Vertical often works with rising filmmakers like Sophie Tabet, whose feature-length directorial debut, Stone Cold Fox, is set for a release later this year.
Sundance title The Dating Game…
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