Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Taylor Sheridan’s exit, Diablo Cody’s script, and a Tumor.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Taylor Sheridan exits Paramount for NBCUniversal in a landmark move.
Diablo Cody is scripting Jennifer’s Body 2.
Blumhouse wins Something Is Killing the Children for film + animated series adaptation.
Bridgerton’s Chris Van Dusen is writing Calabasas for Netflix.
Nickelodeon + Netflix revive Victorious spinoff Hollywood Arts.
Austin Butler joins Michael B. Jordan in Universal’s Miami Vice.
Jennifer Coolidge joins Rebel Wilson’s film Girl Group.
Sam Rockwell stars in Tumor, a noir thriller.
Omar Epps & Wiz Khalifa lead modern crime drama Moses the Black.
Boston Blue sells to 100+ territories.
Sony Pictures Classics acquires I Swear from Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine).
Legion M & Bleecker Street team on period spoof Fackham Hall.
Rolla Selbak’s horror film The Visitor acquired by Watermelon Pictures.
Lena Waithe developing buddy comedy inspired by Issa Rae friendship fallout.
Paramount sells Argentine broadcaster Telefé to Gustavo Scaglione.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Taylor Sheridan, Paramount’s TV king, with ten series on the network (Yellowstone, 1883, 1823, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, Landman, Dutton Ranch, Y:Ranch, NOLA King), is leaving Paramount.
Sheridan has signed a deal with NBCUniversal. Here are the terms:
5-year overall TV deal for Universal’s Peacock and NBC
Starts: Jan 1 2029
8-year film deal
Starts: March 2026
His producing partner, David Glasser (101 Studios), has also signed a deal with NBCU:
First look Film & TV
Starts: 2026
So why did David Ellison, who has paid massive amounts for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, The Duffer Brothers, and James Mangold/Timothée Chalamet film, let his top creator get away?
Sheridan’s relationships with the studio soured post Skydance acquisition:
Taylor’s go-to executives exited
Chris McCarthy (former: Co-CEO)
Keyes Hill-Edgar (former: COO Media Networks & Showtime/MTV Entertainment)
Paramount greenlit a show starring Nicole Kidman, when she was already in a Sheridan series (Lioness)
David Ellison was also frustrated that Sheridan’s shows are expensive to make (some can be $15-20M/ep).
But I’m not too surprised that Sheridan made this move. Much of his oeuvre (including his show Yellowstone and script Hell or High Water) concerns the corruption of overcapitalized large institutions.
Tidbits:
Diablo Cody is officially scripting a Jennifer’s Body sequel. The 2009 horror film immediately became kind of a cult classic. The original starred Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried in a satirical look at female friendships, and was acknowledged for its sapphic overtones and a classic soundtrack. The original director, Karyn Kusama (Æon Flux), is involved, but no word yet on Fox’s or Seyfried’s return. Original trailer.
Blumhouse loves its monsters. After a tense bidding war, Blumhouse (Black Phone, Five Nights at Freddy’s) has bought the rights to Something Is Killing the Children, a BOOM! Studios horror comic series. Blumhouse plans on developing both a live-action feature film and an animated adult series with involvement from author James Tynion IV. The critically acclaimed comics follow a town plagued by monsters that adults cannot see.
Mini Tidbits:
One of the creators behind Netflix’s Bridgerton, Chris Van Dusen, is back to work with the streamer for Calabasas, the upcoming Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts-led series. Van Dusen will write the adaptation and serve as showrunner for the show, described as being in the world of The O.C. and Beverly Hills 90210.
Nickelodeon and Netflix are reviving the popular teen series Victorious with a spinoff show, Hollywood Arts. The premise sees the return of Daniella Monet’s fan favorite character, Trina Vega, as she returns to her former high school to teach. Filming has begun in Vancouver.
Trailer:
Fox’s Memory Of A Killer
Star: Patrick Dempsey
Release date: Jan 2026
Release dates:
Magnolia’s Normal
Star: Bob Odenkirk
Premiere: TIFF
Writer: Derek Kolstad (John Wick)
Release: April 17, 2026
Theaters: 2000 (widest release ever for Magnolia)
Warner Bros.’ Wedding Crashers (20th Anniversary re-release)
WBD re-release partner: Fathom Entertainment
Release date: Dec 4, 11
Buy tickets here
In case you missed it, Kathryn Bigelow’s House of Dynamite just dropped on Netflix. Watch here.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Austin Butler, from Elvis, to Alien, to a couple of normal guys.
Austin Butler is in talks to join Michael B. Jordan in the Miami Vice reboot for Universal. Butler will sign on to co-star and play James “Sonny” Crockett, the partner to Jordan’s Ricardo Tubbs.
Universal’s film version will be inspired by the first season of the era-defining NBC show (1984-89) and not the interesting Michael Mann movie from the early 2000s.
Butler will be replacing Glen Powell, who reportedly bowed out due to other commitments.
Butler’s career is fairly new, but he accelerated, going from his career-defining role as Elvis immediately into the menacing Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune. But most recently, he has taken an interest in movies like this, the crime caper Caught Stealing (trailer), let him be a normal guy, caught in a huge mess.
He showed his action chops, and now, with it rumored he will be in Heat 2, and possibly now Vice. Butler is confidently sliding into that leading man archetype.
The White Lotus meets Sunset Boulevard meets Pitch Perfect. Jennifer Coolidge and Nicole Scherzinger have joined Rebel Wilson’s Girl Group. The Australian actress is writing, directing, producing, and starring in the comedy film following a pop star who is kicked out of her own girl group.
It’s been a big year for the new additions, with Scherzinger winning a Tony for her stage performance as Norma Desmond and Coolidge coming off the $955 M-grossing The Minecraft Movie. Girl Group is currently filming.
Tidbits:
Beloved Tony-winning actress June Lockhart has died at 100 years old. Besides being an iconic TV mom in the long-running Lassie (1954-73) and CBS’ Lost in Space (1965-68), Lockhart began her career as holiday royalty, starring in films like A Christmas Carol (1938) and the Christmas musical movie Meet Me in St. Louis (1944, scene). She will be very missed.
Michael Hsu Rosen (Pretty Smart, Tiny Pretty Things) has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent for Season 2 in a major recurring role. While his character and story details remain under wraps, he joins the new season’s stars Rachel Brosnahan and Matthew Rhys as a husband and wife lawyers facing off against each other in court. Filming begins soon in California.
One lucky fan is getting a trip to Panem! After months of an online search, the upcoming Hunger Games prequel film has cast Devon Singletary as Blair, one of Haymitch’s (Joseph Zada) best friends. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping premieres in theaters Nov. 20th, 2026.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
AFM Projects:
Tumor
Cast: Sam Rockwell & Maisy Stella (My Old Ass)
Dir: Will Bridges (Apple TV+’s All of You starring Imogen Poots)
Prod Co: Stay Gold Features (Under the Silver Lake, Honey Boy)
Budget $7.5M (w/ $2.6M covered for by the CA tax credit)
US Sales Rep: UTA, WME
International Sales Rep: AGC (Hit Man)
Synopsis:
A low-level Los Angeles private investigator searches for a missing politician’s daughter among the city’s privileged elite. Battling late-stage brain tumor symptoms, his grip on reality weakens as old memories blur with the present.
Moses The Black
Cast: Omar Epps (House), Wiz Khalifa
Sales Rep: Stoic
Synopsis:
The story of a gangster in modern day Chicago inspired by an incredible story of repentance of the 4th century saint of the same name.
MIPCOM sale:
Boston Blue
Cast: Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green
Dir: Anthony Hemingway (The Wire)
Has sold to over 100 markets including Europe (Sky), Asia (AXN Asia and Coupang Play), Africa (M-Net), and the USA (CBS)
Synopsis:
A Blue Bloods spinoff taking off where the original series left off.
18 Holes to Paradise (premiere: Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival) picked up for worldwide sales rights by Alpha Violet (Totem, Drowning Dry, The Tribe). Here is the trailer. Alpha Violet also picked up Tallinn’s Goodbye Sisters.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Sony Pictures Classics acquires I Swear out of TIFF from director Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine).
Synopsis:
True life story of John Davidson. Diagnosed with Tourette’s at 15, targeted as insane by his peers, he struggled with a condition few had witnessed. Campaigning for Tourette’s as an adult, he accepted his MBE from the Queen in 2019.
Jones hasn’t directed a feature since My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), so it’s time for a comeback. His stellar debut, Waking Ned Devine (1998), pushed him into studio features that were lighter-hearted or more fantasy-based (Universal’s Nanny McPhee, Lionsgate’s What to Expect When You’re Expecting).
Jones’ direction is perfect in I Swear. He takes heavier material, tilts it comedic and ends up with something profound.
Sony has taken the film for the US and LATAM, Eastern Europe, and a few other international territories. No word on release date, but this crushed in the UK when Studiocanal released it to the tune of $3.9M in its first two weeks.
Watch the trailer here.
Legion M, the crowdfunding-style production company, has partnered with Bleecker Street to co-finance and distribute the period spoof comedy Fackham Hall. Styled after Airplane! and Downton Abbey, it follows a pickpocket entangled in love and murder.
The film cast is pretty extensive: Ben Radcliffe (Pandora), Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho), Katherine Waterston (The World to Come), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), Tom Felton (Harry Potter), and Damian Lewis (Billions).
We like this move by Bleecker Street, as any indie company thrives off being able to engage pockets of fandom. Want a deep dive into Bleecker Street’s inner workings and marketing strategy? We did a 2-hour Live event with Bleecker Street president and CMO Tyler DiNapoli. Watch here.
Fackham Hall will debut on December 5th.
Tidbits:
Filmmaker Rolla Selbak’s horror feature The Visitor has been boarded by Watermelon Pictures (All That’s Left of You). Inspired by Palestinian folklore, the film will follow a young man in Jerusalem confronting a Ghouleh (female ghoul) from his grandmother’s stories. Currently planning to shoot in Jordan next year.
Emmy winner Lena Waithe is turning heartbreak into humor with a new buddy comedy film inspired by her real-life friendship fallout with Issa Rae (Insecure). Waithe has been writing the script with hopes that they both will play each other with the characters’ “thinly-veiled versions” of themselves. In the meantime, Waithe’s Showtime series The Chi is gearing up to start production on its eighth and final season.
Mini Tidbit:
Director Jaco Bouwer’s Orion looks like a really interesting psychological thriller done in an indie-friendly minimalist set. The film follows Apollo (Drew Van Acker), a disoriented astronaut whose ship’s crash killed his crew, and Jim (Andrew McCarthy), a NASA official probing the disaster. It just premiered at FilmQuest in Utah. Check out the clip.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Paramount has sold its Argentine broadcaster Telefé, including regional affiliates and Telefé Internacional, to local media entrepreneur Gustavo Scaglione. While an amount was not officially disclosed, the price was not quite as large as when it was sold to Viacom (pre-CBS merger) back in 2016. The move lets Paramount streamline its global portfolio, while Telefé, reaching 95% of Argentine households, enters a new phase under local ownership, with plans to expand production and strengthen its multiplatform presence.
London-based Mister Smith Entertainment (UK dist: 1917) has acquired worldwide rights to Ancestors, the directorial feature debut of David Turpin (wri: The Lodgers). The period film is a noir love story starring Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding) and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks.
ON THIS DAY
1955. Rebel Without a Cause is released.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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Sony Pictures Classics continues to demonstrate their strength in picking up prestige indie films with real commercial potential. Kirk Jones returning after nearly a decade away from features with 'I Swear' is interesting - he clearly has the touch for balancing heavier subject matter with comedy, which worked brilliantly in Waking Ned Devine. The film's strong UK perfromance ($3.9M in two weeks for a smaller indie) suggests there's genuine audience appetite for this story. SPC's selective acquisition strategy for US, LATAM, and Eastern Europe rather than global rights shows they're being strategic about where the John Davidson story will resonate most. Given the subject matter around Tourette's awareness and the MBE honor angle, this could be a solid awards season contender if they time the release right.