Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Sylvester Stallone’s Aces, Chris Pine’s Pleasure and Volcanology.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Balboa Productions and MGM TV are developing a series Blood Aces.
Nancy Meyers is back with a Warner Bros. film starring Cruz, Wilson, Kulkin.
Disney Q1 ’26: $11.61bn entertainment revenue (+7%). $1.1bn profit (–35%).
Megan Park’s Die Alive, produced by LuckyChap sparks bidding war.
Fox gives a straight-to-series order to The Interrogator starring Stephen Fry.
Netflix elevates Elizabeth Stone to Chief Product & Technology Officer.
Emmy-nominated producer David Yarnell dies at 96.
Jessica Chastain and Chris Pine star in This Is Pleasure from Killer Films.
The Housekeeper adds Helena Bonham Carter.
John Cho joins Apple TV+’s The Off Weeks.
The Temple taps Cory Michael Smith as its lead.
Universal Pictures Content Group co-produces Tutu from Sam Pollard.
Utopai East acquires Alquimista Media.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and MGM Television are developing a prestige series based on Blood Aces, Doug J. Swanson’s biography of Vegas gambling pioneer Benny Binion.
Cole Hauser (Yellowstone) is set to star as Binion, tracing his rise from a Texas hustler to a ruthless power broker who helped shape modern Vegas and high-stakes poker.
Including Tulsa King and other Stallone-heralded projects, Blood Aces has that Americana grit and seedy underbelly I’d associate with their usual slate.
The first Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give) feature in over a decade is officially moving forward with Warner Bros, backed by an impressive ensemble cast and an estimated $100M budget.
While the title and logline remain under wraps, with such an intriguing cast and a well-known director, the project has become one of the studio’s most anticipated upcoming projects.
Penélope Cruz
Owen Wilson
Kieran Culkin
Jude Law
Emma Mackey (Ella McCay)
The film is slated for a Christmas Day 2027 theatrical premiere.
Disney released its Q1 2026 results. Here’s the breakdown plus the change from last year:
$11.61bn entertainment revenue (Disney+, Hulu + Linear)
↑ 7%
$1.1bn entertainment operating profit
↓ 35%
(And if you take out the streaming segment, the profits were $650M, down 55%, because even though the big budget Zootopia 2 and Avatar 3 did well at the box office, that money won’t be seen for another quarter)
Just for context, Zootopia 2 grossed $630M in China alone
$5.35bn streaming revenue
↑ 11%
$450M streaming profit (not including sports)
↑ 72%
$1.94bn gain - Content Sales/Licensing and Other (e.g., Theatrical + TV Licensing)
↑ 22%
Just a note, Disney is no longer breaking out their Linear revenue, profit or subscribers for Disney+ and Hulu, and studio profit/loss.
Also, the YouTube TV carriage dispute cut into ESPN’s profits, as it made only $191M on $4.9bn in revenue. Profit was said to be reduced by $110M.
On the earnings call, we got a hint about the Disney/Sora AI 30-second video integration that unlocks 250 Disney characters with Iger stating:
“It jumpstarts our ability to have shortform video on Disney+...it’s our hope that we will use the Sora tools to enable subscribers of Disney+ to create shortform videos on our platform.”
Full breakdown on how worried we should be about AI integration here.
Finally, Iger offered no words on who will succeed him at the helm of Disney.
Tidbits:
My Old Ass director Megan Park’s newest script, Die Alive, produced by Margot Robbie’s Lucky Chap, has ignited a full-fledged studio bidding war. Sony, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros., and just about everyone have tossed their hat into the ring. Described as Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy meets Julia Roberts’ Stepmom, it follows a woman who gets stuck taking care of the kids of her boyfriend that she didn’t know he had. Park will direct from her own script.
Fox has given a straight-to-series order to The Interrogator, a 12-episode spy drama created by and starring Stephen Fry. The series follows former MI6 agent Conrad Henry, whose intellect and behavioral tactics crack cases that others cannot. This will be Fry’s first return to Fox since Bones. Set for the 2026–2027 season. Just because I can’t resist, here is Fry narrating as his cameraman gets assaulted by a rare parrot. CLIP.
Mini Tidbits:
Netflix’s leading technology exec, Elizabeth Stone, has been promoted to Chief Product and Technology Officer. She will have oversight over the mega streamer’s product teams, with the company’s data insights to be used to help improve the user experience.
Paramount+ has brought in Netflix exec Damla Dogan (Owning Manhattan) to consult for the company on the unscripted side. Her appointment makes sense considering, in recent months, Paramount Skydance has picked up a number of non-fiction, unscripted projects.
Emmy-nominated producer David Yarnell has died at 96. His career spanned radio, television, and film, including Candid Camera and Can You Ever Forgive Me?
The BAFTA Film Awards will air on E! Announced just a few weeks out from the ceremony, The Traitors host Alan Cumming will emcee, broadcasting Feb. 22nd.
Renewals:
NBC’s St. Denis Medical (for S3)
NBC’s Happy’s Place (for S3)
Apple TV+’s Your Friends & Neighbors (for S3)
Cancellations:
The Kelly Clarkson Show (Ending after S7)
Trailers:
Lionsgate’s Michael
Cast: Jaafar Jackson
Release: April 24, 2026
Amazon’s Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision (Doc)
Cast: King Charles III, narrated by Kate Winslet
Release: February 6
FX’s Love Story
Release: February 12
Angel Studios’ Solo Mio
Cast: Kevin James
Dir: Charles Kinnane and Daniel Kinnane (Water Brothers)
Release: Feb 6
Paramount’s Scream 7
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox
Release: February 27
Beta Film’s Maxima (S2)
Cast: Delfina Chaves, Martijn Lakemeier
Release: March 14
AMC’s Dark Winds Season 4
Cast: Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon
Release: February 15
Netflix’s Stranger Things: Tales From ’85
Cast: Jeremy Jordan, Janeane Garofalo
Release: April 23
Release Date:
Sony’s Breadwinner
Release: Moved to May 29
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Jessica Chastain and Chris Pine will star in prestige drama This Is Pleasure from Killer Films. Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor) the film adapts Mary Gaitskill’s MeToo novella about a woman forced to reassess loyalty and truth when misconduct allegations threaten her closest friend.
This is the pair’s first on-screen collaboration but Chastain will bring the moral weight to the story while Pine will charm on the surface but boil below.
Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown), Caitríona Balfe (Belfast), and Emma Laird (Brody’s cousin’s wife in The Brutalist) have joined the romance drama The Housekeeper. Set in Cornwall, the story follows Danni (Balfe), a housekeeper at Manderville Hall that is seduced when Laird arrives. Carter plays the niece of the Hall’s owner Lord Grenville-Whithers (Anthony Hopkins).
Carter as Hopkins niece is just brilliant casting. Both can achieve peak righteous snide and I can’t wait to see how they play off each other. Due in fall 2026.
Tidbit:
John Cho (Harold & Kumar) has joined Apple TV’s drama series The Off Weeks, starring Ben Stiller and Jessica Chastain. The show follows a recently divorced writing professor balancing parenthood during custody weeks and a risky romance during his off weeks. Cho’s role has not yet been disclosed.
Clancy Brown (wonderfully devious as Salvatore Maroni in HBO’s The Penguin) co-stars opposite Mila Kunis in Nightwatching, a Scott Free and Picturestart thriller for Amazon MGM, adapted from Tracy Sierra’s novel. The film follows a mother trapped inside her home during a brutal winter storm as a break-in spirals into a tense fight for survival.
A24 has started production on Edward Berger’s The Riders, led by Brad Pitt, with Michael Smiley (Bad Sisters), Danny Huston (The Aviator), Camille Cottin (Call My Agent!), and Ulrich Thomsen (Lanterns) joining the cast. The Riders follows an Australian man who travels across Europe with his young daughter, searching for the wife who mysteriously abandoned them. Currently shooting across Europe.
Cory Michael Smith goes from tech billionaire in Mountainhead to horror millionaire in The Temple, a sci-fi horror film by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas. The story follows an orphaned millionaire seeking his parents’ ghosts with a scientist’s help. Produced by Babe Nation Films. Michael Smith gave a goofball/chilling performance as the tech billionaire (net worth 220) as the architect of an AI algorithm inciting global violence (trailer).
CBS’s Elsbeth welcomes three guest stars for its third season.
Mark Linn-Baker (Succession) as a bookstore owner
Joanna Gleason (The West Wing) a successful author
Didi Conn (Grease) as a widow seeking justice
Their episodes will air on CBS this April.
Actress Elyse Donalson who appeared in shows like NBC’s St. Elsewhere and The X-Files has died at 78. Coming from Texas in the 80s, she steadily worked for over two decades appearing in more than two dozen series.
FESTIVALS
Some new attachments/sales reps ahead of the upcoming festivals.
Rotterdam:
Master
New EP: Kwanon Films (Charlie Chaplin: A Man of the World)
Dir: Rezwan Shahriar Sumit (prod. The Salt in Our Waters)
Premiere: Rotterdam
Synopsis:
Devoted teacher and family man Jahir enters office with noble intentions, but power and pressure quickly corrupt him. As influence and ambition take hold, he transforms from a respected community leader into a feared authoritarian.
Berlin:
Truly Naked
Int. Sales Rep: M-Appeal (Dreams)
Dir: Muriel d’Ansembourg (short film Good Night)
Premiere: Berlin
Synopsis:
An introverted teenager who’s only ever experienced intimacy through the lens while working for his father’s pornography business, must step out from behind the camera when a feisty classmate challenges him to embrace real connection.
EFM:
The Girl
Int. Sales Rep: WestEnd Films (Perfect Strangers)
Dir/Wri: Marina Ziolkowski (Based on Samantha Geimer’s memoir The Girl in the Shadow of Roman Polanski)
Synopsis:
Follows 13-year-old Samantha who dreams of becoming an actress when she is drawn into celebrated filmmaker Roman Polanski’s orbit in 1977 California, leading to sexual assault and a relentless media storm.
Extraordinary (Glavonja)
Int. Sales Rep: Pluto Film (Victim)
Dir: Vanda Raymanová, Marina Andree Skop
Synopsis:
When her parents mysteriously vanish, a determined 10-year-old girl joins forces with a young detective club and her autistic brother, whose unique perspective becomes the unexpected key to unraveling a criminal conspiracy.
Seeds
Int. Sales Rep: Concourse Media (Sovereign)
Dir: Ryan Jordan (Bundles)
Cast: Dominic Hernandez (Mindcage)
Synopsis
Seeds follows political operatives who carry out a covert plan to place abducted Mexican gang members in U.S. cities, with the goal of provoking unrest that can be exploited to advance radical immigration policies.
April (Abril)
Int. Sales Reps: Concourse Media (Words of War)
Dir/Wri: Hernán Jiménez (Love Hard)
Cast: François Arnaud (Heated Rivalry)
Premiere: Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Synopsis:
Follows April, a divorcée struggling to connect with her resentful daughter. After her daughter moves in with her father, April bonds with bartender Gabriel, glimpsing life beyond motherhood.
For 5 festival trailers and a first look at Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson in an experimental film, click here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Universal Pictures Content Group is co-producing Tutu with HiddenLight (In Her Hands). This is Oscar-nominated Sam Pollard’s Berlin-premiering documentary. The film is an intimate portrayal of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the man whose leadership ended apartheid in South Africa.
Pollard is a master documentarian, having kicked off his career editing Spike Lee’s films. When I took his class in college, he told me a great story about how he aced the interview. Now Pollard has moved on to directing renowned festival docs like MLK/FBI.
Mini Tidbits:
Cantilever Media and sales outfit Architect have formed a joint venture to launch two animated features a year. Their debut is a $13M animated family feature adapting Guy Kennaway’s novel, Bird Brain. The film follows a British aristocrat turned pheasant forced to survive alongside his former prey after a hunting accident. First Look.
Former Sundance Director Tabitha Jackson is now the current director of Film Forum, the NYC arthouse theater. It’s a great fit because Jackson has overseen Sundance’s doc film program since 2013.
Czech drama Broken Voices is acquired by Sumerian Pictures (Mile End Kicks) for North American rights. Winner of the Best European film at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival last July. The film follows a famous girls’ choir in 90s Czech Republic.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Utopai East has acquired Seoul-based production house Alquimista Media (Sundance’s Bedford Park). Led by Hyun Park, the previous head of Warner Bros. Korea, the deal gives Utopai a catalog of 15 scripted films and TV projects that are in active development. Utopai is a Korean studio and joint venture that focuses on AI-driven, high-quality scripted content.
Mini Tidbits:
Bangkok’s Blood on the Ice
Trinity CineAsia’s Scare Out
Losange’s The Meltdown
More details on those projects and more here.
ON THIS DAY
1960. La Dolce Vita premieres in Italy.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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Hey, great read as always! So many exciting projects, especially that Netflix CPT&O update, it's such a vital role now. Wonder if we'll see more CS folks moving into top product leadership across whole industry soon?