Seth Rogen and Kristen Stewart Collaboration
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Kristen Stewart’s high life. Bad Boys take on bad boys. And a forgetful actor.
Let’s go!
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It is safe to say that Seth Rogen knows a thing or two about a good stoner comedy.
Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures (Neighbors), along with Neon, is bringing to life The Wrong Girls, which will see Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat (Blink Twice) “living paycheck to paycheck and bong rip to bong rip.”
Official Synopsis:
Two aimless young women inadvertently gain telepathic abilities after ingesting an experimental drug, pitting them against dangerous rivals pursuing the same powerful substance.
Rogen will have a supporting role alongside Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and Tony Hale (Veep).
The legalization/normalization of marijuana has put a major dent in this genre. In recent years, the disappearance of mid-budget comedy has given the TV format more traction. Shows like Workaholics (2011-2017) and Broad City (2014-2019) are some of the only examples of stoner comedy from the last decade.
One of the faults of the dying genre it became too overly saturated with a male perspective until the Rogen greats (Superbad, Pineapple Express, This is the End) felt like a bad high (The Night Before, Neighbors 2).
Stewart herself has starred in American Ultra (2015), which is one of the only movies of this kind that sees a female character just as involved in the high-fueled hilarity as the men and not just as a judgmental abstainer.
In the last few years, there has been a rise in successful female-led comedies (e.g., Bottoms, Thelma, Joyride, Booksmart), which leads us to believe this is the perfect time for a resurgence of the stoner comedy told from a woman’s perspective.
With a really strong cast, a chaotically fun premise, and reliable leadership from Rogen, who’s centered his whole career around these types of comedies, The Wrong Girls definitely has the potential to bring us all back to the early 2000s in the best way.
For More:
Seth Rogen has unabashedly become the face of unhinged pothead comedies:
Superbad (2007) trailer.
Pineapple Express (2008) scene.
This is the End (2013) scene.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys: Ride or Die) will direct a film on the tragic true story of Sanda Dia.
Sony’s live-action Street Fighter has locked in a director—Kitao Sakurai (The Eric Andre Show).
Universal Pictures has landed the rights to con artist Tanya Smith’s wild true story Never Saw Me Coming, with Janelle Monáe starring and producing.
IMAX and Cinemark Q4 revenues. Both are up.
Some big executive shake-ups at Disney and FilmNation.
The Last of Us S2 premieres April 13 on HBO.
Claire Danes returns to TV with HBO drama series, The Applebaum Curse.
Richard Kind plays the devil in Slamdance’s Portal to Hell.
Daniel Craig has exited DC’s Sgt. Rock film with Luca Guadagnino directing.
Claire Denis is making a cannibal thriller, The Soap Maker, about a woman who used victims’ remains for soap.
A24’s horror hitmakers, the Philippou brothers (Talk to Me), return with Bring Her Back, starring Sally Hawkins.
Neon will release The Actor, the first live-action film by the director of Anomalisa.
Hiro Murai (Atlanta) launches Chum Films, partnering with FX.
Spike Lee’s Kurosawa reinterpretation Highest 2 Lowest gets a first look featuring A$AP Rocky.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have class. The Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) directors have lined up their next project.
Here is the synopsis:
The tragic true story of Sanda Dia, a Black student who died in 2018 after enduring a violent fraternity hazing ritual at an elite university in Belgium.
The directors stated:
“Like everyone else, we were in shock of what happened to Sanda during those two days… When we got in touch with his father, Papis Dia, we were impressed by his courage and his willpower to fight for justice. This film is a love letter from him to Sanda.”
I found Arbi and Fallah’s recent Bad Boys film strangely evocative. They imbue their camera with an experimental stylization. I could see them capturing their new film’s frat ritual with heightened cynical stylism (like the wedding scene in Bad Boys: Ride or Die).
But how they portray Dia’s afterlife will be the most fascinating.
Will he be a metaphorical ghost that haunts his perpetrators? The proliferation of flashbacks and videos from the deceased in their Bad Boys make the dead a very present force in the film.
No word on production details or release date.
Sony's live-action Street Fighter movie is still kicking with Kitao Sakurai boarding as director. Sony has gone ahead and scheduled the movie for release on March 20, 2026 with Legendary co-developing and co-producing.
Sakurai is best known for directing all 62 episodes of the Eric Andre show. The Gonzo fringe show spoofed old late-night shows like the Johnny Carson show but tried to catch the guests off guard, a favorite of mine being Attack DeMarco.
With Street Fighters’ legacy of being a B-movie, maybe the choice of Sakurai will lean into that movie camp and channel the same fever dream artificiality that EAS captured effortlessly.
Tidbits:
IMAX and Cinemark Q4 revenues. Both are up, but only one is expected to have an explosive 2025:
https://theindustry.co/p/imax-and-cinemark-q4
Some big executive shakes ups at:
Disney
FilmNation
Sony
Very good news for one Paramount executive:
https://theindustry.co/p/disney-filmnation-sony
Universal Pictures has landed the rights to genius con artist Tanya Smith’s mind blowing memoir Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System and Pocked $40 Million with Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures) attached to star. Monáe is also producing through her Wondaland Pictures’ first look deal with Universal with the heist story both extremely sought after and very much acclaimed since its publication last year for the wild true story that sees Smith come from humble beginnings into one of the biggest threats to the entire US banking system.
Cancellations:
Max’s Bookie
Premiere Dates:
HBO’s The Last of Us - Season 2
Release: April 13th
Lionsgate’s Mutiny
Star: Jason Statham
Release: Jan 9th 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
This one is just creepy. Imogen Faith Reid plays Natalia Grace (from the Max’s The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace docu-series) which centers on a woman with dwarfism who cons an American family into adopting her by believing she’s a child. Reid is picture-perfectly creepy in the trailer. The cast is quite padded with Mark Duplass, Dulé Hill (West Wing), and Christina Hendricks. Hulu premieres the series on March 19th.
Rob Gronkowski and Mickey Rourke star in The Roaring Game, a curling comedy directed by Tom DeNucci. The film follows a janitor-turned-curling competitor aiming to win back his ex. Producers are targeting a 2026 Winter Olympics release. Check out the first look here.
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Danielle Deadwyler (Till) is entering the comedy world with a new HBO series with Steve Carell. Synopsis: College campus, centering on an author’s (Carell) complicated relationship with his daughter. The rising actress is starring alongside Charly Clive, who will play Carell’s daughter. No word on production dates.
The upcoming Peacock limited series, The Good Daughter, has added Emmy Award-winning actor Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Will & Harper’s Harper Steele to its cast, joining Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids) and Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus). A suspenseful crime drama, The Good Daughter follows two sisters (played by the latter actresses) whose lives in their small town were fractured by a single night of violence. Karin Slaughter (Pieces of Her) will write and EP the series.
Richard Kind plays the devil in Slamdance’s Portal to Hell. It's a delight to see the character actor featured in A Serious Man, Argo, Beau is Afraid take on pure pulpy fare. Keith David (Requiem for a Dream) also stars. Raven Banner (distributor: Climax) has just picked up world sales.
Daniel Craig has dropped out of playing Sgt. Rock a DC Studios project based on the 1959 War comic and directed by Luca Guadagnino. Find more about the project here:
https://theindustry.co/p/craig-is-not-the-rock
Claire Danes (Homeland) returns to TV with a twist:
https://theindustry.co/p/claire-danes-homeland
FESTIVALS
This is the coolest project at EFM. Claire Denis (dir: Beau Travail) is directing a cannibal thriller, The Soap Maker.
Synopsis:
In 1930s-40s Italy, Leonarda Cianciulli killed three women in Correggio, dissolved their remains with chemicals, and used the residue to make soap, candles, and baked goods she shared with neighbors.
CAA serves as the sales rep and is packaging the project. Lucas Foster (EP: Ford v Ferrari) serves as producer along with Gerry Pass (Co-P: Manodrome).
The film is based on Gran Bollito (1977, trailer).
There is something sinister and sexually charged that runs through all of Denis's work. From the homoeroticism in Beau Travail to a certifiably bananas f*ck box scene in High Life. So, we look forward to seeing what she can squeeze out of this tale.
M-Appeal’s deals. The sales rep behind Evil Does Not Exist (2023) has scored some wins for a trio of their films at EFM:
https://theindustry.co/p/berlin-efm-dreams
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Danny and Michael Philippou (dir: A24’s Talk To Me) have launched their next horror film, Bring Her Back. A24 will distribute and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) will star.
Here’s the synopsis:
A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.
The trailer evokes a series of images, each more creepy than the last: blood-stained hands, coffins, and a creepy VHS that looks like a hostage situation. Sans the 20-second-long tracking shot of the cat, the trailer is incredibly disturbing but disjointed like a dream.
The Philippou brothers hit the jackpot when their film Talk To Me premiered at Sundance and was purchased for the high 7-figures by A24 and then earned $92 M at the box office.
What it captured was the poignant authenticity of a daughter in grief and how she attaches herself to a very dangerous totem: a medium’s severed hand, which acts as a portal to hell (trailer).
Bring Her Back will be released in theaters on May 30th.
Neon’s The Actor starring Moonlight’s Andre Holland. Utopia’s Pet Shop Days EP’d by Martin Scorsese. We explore both project’s heightened reality. Plus, the trailers are pretty catchy:
https://theindustry.co/p/the-actor-pet-shop-days
Tidbits:
Emmy-winning filmmaker Hiro Murai (Atlanta) has launched Chum Films to develop original films and TV, supporting new creators. Chum has a first-look deal with FX, with projects including Widow’s Bay and Bushido. Murai also continues collaborations with Donald Glover and FX like the previous Mr. and Ms Smith remake and Childish Gambinos This is America music video.
Focus buys the international rights for Lurker, which premiered at the recent Sundance Film Festival.
Here’s the synopsis:
A retail employee infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Alex Russell, who served as a supervising producer on Beef and The Bear, is making his directorial debut. No word on the Focus deal terms, but Mubi already bought the US rights for mid-seven figures.
Mini Tidbit:
First look at Spike Lee’s Kurosawa reinterpretation: Highest 2 Lowest. A$AP Rocky still.
ON THIS DAY
1952. African Queen is released in the US.
See you Friday!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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