Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Sony’s Swear, Warner’s Wish, and a fish.
Let’s go!
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The Industry is doing a virtual live event with John August, the co-host of Scriptnotes: How to Build a Screenwriting Career. More info here:
https://theindustry.co/p/event-how-to-build-a-screenwriting
Kirk Jones, the writer and director of Waking Ned Devine and Nanny McPhee, has directed the most powerful film of his career, Sony Pictures Classics’ I Swear.
I sat down with Jones, who shared what resonated with him the first time he met the subject of his biopic, John Davidson:
“[Davidson] said, ‘My life has been the most potent mix of humor and emotion and tragedy that you can ever imagine.’ And I thought, ok, I’m in.”
I Swear follows Davidson, who develops Tourette’s, which manifests in uncontrollable, loud, filthy, and sometimes very funny ways. And Jones has wisely structured the film around this, such that we’re never sure if we’re going to see a scene in which Davidson is accepted or rejected. And that often has a beautiful, but always tense, effect.
Jones also chose to capture large sections of the film by boxing in Davidson with locked-down frames.
He explained:
“I knew that we were about to go on this emotional journey where people really had to be in tune with their own emotions to work out whether they should be laughing or crying. I felt the very best way to do that was to try and present images which felt as realistic as possible.”
It’s a choice that accentuated the terror core to I Swear: that Davidson needs to not look to others to see how they react to him, but find the grace to accept who he is.
The film is releasing today in theaters in the US.
For More:
Full interview with Kirk Jones, plus the very red band trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
WBD shareholders approve Paramount acquisition but reject Zaslav’s payout.
Amazon MGM nears $30M deal on Javier Bardem & Kate Hudson’s Hello & Paris.
Peacock hits 46M subscribers, streamer losses grow to $423M.
Netflix authorizes $25B share buyback.
Focus Features boards Curry Barker’s horror, Anything But Ghosts w/ Aaron Paul.
Scarlett Johansson produces Netflix’s The Nanny Diaries series adaptation.
Hulu buys bodyguard-princess romantic thriller Close Protection.
California awards $50M tax credits to The Simpsons 2, DreamWorks, and Disney.
Oscar-winning Godfather Part II production designer Dean Tavoularis dies at 93.
Elizabeth Banks leads Apple comedy from Will Trent writer Liz Heldens.
Franka Potente joins Apple sci-fi thriller Liminal w/ Vanessa Kirby.
Maggie Gyllenhaal named Venice Film Festival Jury President.
Studiocanal backs Bill Condon musical The Road Home starring Cynthia Erivo.
Alex Proyas uses AI for the metaverse-afterlife film Heaven.
Roadside Attractions acquires Casper Kelly's Sundance horror film, Buddy.
Quiver picks up Willem Dafoe Locarno drama The Birthday Party.
ITV casts Andrea Riseborough in lunar thriller First Woman.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Colossal, Neon’s 1st film.
44% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
99% of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted to greenlight its acquisition by Paramount.
Of course, Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery cannot form until it receives the approval of the US DOJ and regulators in Europe, who are becoming increasingly concerned by the $24bn investment from the Middle East to fund Paramount’s acquisition. States like CA can also block the deal. Read more about the deal here.
82% of shareholders agreed on one more thing: to not honor WBD CEO David Zaslav’s $887M golden parachute payday. Although this is also non-binding and unlikely to affect the board’s compensation. Read our breakdown on the full amounts for all the execs here.
At the same time, the Petition Letter to stop the merger has grown to 4200+ names. Robert De Niro and Sofia Coppola are the latest to sign.
Amazon MGM Studios is just about to close a $30M deal for Hello & Paris, a romantic comedy starring Javier Bardem and Kate Hudson.
The premise reads like a reimagined Sleepless in Seattle, following the love connection between an independent landscape artist and a troubled novelist who began a long-distance relationship after an unexpected first meeting in Paris.
Bardem hasn’t done a real rom-com since Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, trailer). Whereas Hudson, a seasoned actress in the romcom space, is just coming off her Oscar-nominated role in Song Sung Blue.
Filming will begin later this month.
Tidbits:
Netflix is doubling down on itself. The streamer has authorized a $25bn share buyback (8-K filing). The buyback program was announced with the streamer’s stock being down more than 16% over the past six months in an effort to reinstate confidence in Wall Street after the scrapped Warner Bros. bid.
Focus Features just announced that they have boarded Curry Barker’s (Obsession) new horror film, Anything But Ghosts, starring Aaron Paul. Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Spooky Pictures (Late Night with the Devil), and Divide/Conquer (Heart Eyes) are producing the film. The production just wrapped. No word on plot. Barker has exploded in the horror space since Focus bought Obsession for $15M at TIFF. Read more about why he’s a go-to name in horror.
It has been nearly 20 years since Scarlett Johansson’s time as Nanny in The Nanny Diaries (2007). Now, the actress will EP Netflix’s series adaptation of the bestselling novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. From Bridgerton to The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix has a long history of successful book-to-series adaptations, with this one in good hands with Sex and the City writer Jenny Bicks attached. Johansson will produce with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television under their overall deal.
Hulu buys the rights to romantic thriller Close Protection from producers Dean Georgaris (prod. Life of Pi) and John Fox (prod. Dolomite Is My Name). The pair have collaborated on NBC’s Quantum Leap as well as another pilot, Key Witness. Close Protection is about an American bodyguard protecting a British princess.
Chad Feehan (creator: Lawman: Bass Reeves), the current showrunner of Paramount+’s Dutton Ranch, is exiting after Season 1 has finished.
Mini Tidbits:
CA tax credit bolsters animation
Netflix’s Glory Days
Bob Iger’s new role
All those mini tidbits and more here.
Cancellations:
Peacock’s Clueless TV series (no longer in development)
Trailers:
Prime Video’s Off-Campus
Release: May 13
Apple TV’s Star City
Studio: Sony
Release: May 29
Janus Films’ Romería
Premiere: Cannes (Official Selection 2025)
Release: June 26
Paramount+’s The Chi S8
Release: May 22
Release Dates:
Lionsgate’s Power Ballad
Dir: John Carney
Cast: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas
Limited Release: May 29
U.S. Release: June 5
Indie sci-fi thriller April X
Cast: Connor Storrie, Lilly Krug
Synopsis: In a post-Soviet, cyberpunk near-future, Bax investigates the disappearance of his sibling, April.
Release: September
Universal Pictures’ Murder, She Wrote
Dir: Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect)
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis
Release: February 4, 2028
Shoot Dates:
FilmNation Entertainment’s King Snake
Dir: Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)
Cast: Margaret Qualley, Drew Starkey, and Michael Shannon
Shoot Dates: April ~ June
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Elizabeth Banks is enjoying the small screen. The Hunger Games actress is joining the Apple family in a new untitled comedy from Will Trent writer Liz Heldens.
Synopsis:
Fresh off a messy divorce, Heidi (Banks) sets out to secure a lively second act for herself and her kids. But when she stumbles into coordinating her father’s retirement community sex dates, Heidi is forced into an unlikely alliance with his girlfriend’s perpetually single son.
In 2025, Banks starred in the Prime Video series The Better Sister, another chaotic premise, playing a struggling alcoholic and ex-wife to her estranged sister’s dead husband.
On a lighter note, but just as offbeat, she can currently be seen in perfect chemistry alongside Matthew Macfadyen in the Peacock comedy series The Miniature Wife (trailer). A mix of The Incredible Shrinking Woman and The Roses, she plays the wife of a narcissistic scientist who shrinks her down on “accident” to six inches tall.
Banks’ next TV venture will start shooting in LA later this year.
Mini Tidbits:
Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, The Bourne franchise) has joined Apple’s sci-fi thriller film Liminal. Based on a graphic novel, the story is set in a world where a tenth of the population suddenly gains telepathic powers. Vanessa Kirby, Tom Pelphrey (Ozark), and Tracy Letts (A House of Dynamite) also star. It’s a sci-fi premise that does not involve AI robots taking over, so consider me intrigued.
Sean McEwen’s (Dir: American Outlaws) indie dramedy Turnbuckle finishes production. The cast is star-studded: Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), Terrence Howard (Iron Man 2), and Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad) will star in the film. Described as a darkly comic southern story about a small-town criminal facing impossible tasks to see his son.
Hulu’s TV adaptation of Count My Lies casts Grey’s Anatomy’s Sophia Bush in a series regular role. Bush will play a stylish NYC architect and mother, joining Shailene Woodley, Lindsay Lohan, and Kit Harington. Based on Sophie Stava’s bestselling novel Count My Lies, filming is underway.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Cannes news:
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight adds Bruno Dumont’s Red Rocks
Cannes Market launches
Studiocanal’s Bill Condon musical
Alex Proyas (Dir: I, Robot), AI film Heaven
Deep Dives on those tidbits and more here.
The 83rd Venice Film Festival has named Maggie Gyllenhaal as this year’s Jury President. Following in the footsteps of talent like Alexander Payne and Isabelle Huppert, Gyllenhaal, as she builds up her directing portfolio, seems like a good person to represent, as her debut, The Lost Daughter (2021), won the coveted best screenplay award at Venice.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Children’s TV, unicorns, and bloodshed. Roadside Attractions acquires U.S. rights for horror film Buddy, directed by Casper Kelly (Dir: Adult Swim’s Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell).
The film is about a girl who must escape a kids’ television show while being hunted down by a humanoid unicorn. Buddy was well-received by audiences in the Midnight section of 2026’s Sundance Film Festival and SXSW and will have a theatrical run starting September 4th.
The cast is also star-studded: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt.
Just like Late Night with the Devil (2023) utilized the format of a late-night show to tell its horrifying story, Kelly excels at turning children’s TV and a humanoid unicorn into a nightmare.
ITV thriller series First Woman casts Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough and Adolescence’s Ashley Walters.
The show is set to follow Riseborough as the first woman set to walk on the moon, who reportedly goes missing into the deep lunar night. The six-part series marks Riseborough’s return to TV after starring in the HBO miniseries The Regime (2024).
ITV Studios’ Mammoth Screen (PBS’ The Forsytes) and Germany’s ZDF (Sentimental Value) are attached as co-producers.
Tidbit:
Quiver Distribution (The Cleaner) acquires North American rights to The Birthday Party. The Greek feature, which premiered at Locarno, stars Willem Dafoe and centers on a 1970s Mediterranean tycoon who throws a lavish birthday party for his daughter and sole heiress on his exclusive private island. Releasing June 5th.
Mini Tidbits:
Watermelon Pictures’ acquisition
Greg Vrotsos’ feature debut
Canal+’s Kim, the Diamond, and the Grandpa Robbers
All those tidbits and more here.
ON THIS DAY
1942. Barbra Streisand born in Brooklyn, NYC.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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