The Actor’s Director
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
The Actor, The Shrouds and Freaky Friday.
Let’s go!
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Memory loss in movies takes many forms. Memento. Bourne Identity. Mulholland Drive.
In The Actor, Neon’s first release post Best Picture Oscar win, memory loss looks far different.
I sat down with the director and co-writer Duke Johnson (Dir: Anomalisa) who discussed casting his lead amnesiac André Holland (Moonlight), his work with Charlie Kaufman, and how he built the surreal world of his first live action film:
“The idea was that it's in the guise of a crime noir thriller where amnesia is typically used as a trope to propel a plot forward. But in this case, it was oddly more used as an entry point into an exploration of identity.”
What makes The Actor so marvelous is watching the unassuming Holland slowly discover that the man he used to be was, in fact, an asshole. The discordance between these dual identities is poetic and revelatory.
In the film, Holland wades through various liminal spaces searching for himself, a visual style that Johnson says was pulled from his work in animation:
“You can take a puppet that's frozen and pick it up and move it to another set and dissolve between them. They're moving in time, but they're also moving in environment.”
Holland's journey through his conscious and subconscious, through the many roles he occupies as an actor, makes clear: we are what we make ourselves.
For More:
The Actor trailer.
Full interview with Duke Johnson, complete with some secrets of in-camera wizardry.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Disney’s Freaky Friday gets a body-swap-alicious teaser.
Sony announces a new Starship Troopers movie in the capable hands of Neil Blomkamp (dir: District 9).
A Cloverfield sequel, announced in 2022, remains in development.
Ted Lasso renewed for Season 4.
Jenna Ortega stars in a remake of 90s psychological thriller Single White Female.
Jason Ritter (Matlock) joins HBO’s Lanterns.
Willa Fitzgerald (Strange Darling) joins Paramount’s Regretting You.
Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother will premiere at Cannes.
F*ckups Anonymous wins SXSW Independent TV pilot program.
Sony Pictures Classics picks up Sundance gem Oh, Hi! starring The Bear’s Molly Gordon.
Longtime Sundance programmer Charlie Sextro joins Utopia as SVP Acquisitions.
Eli Roth launches The Horror Section, a crowdfunded horror media company.
Universal Pictures is producing an Iron Maiden doc.
We get a darker look into David Cronenberg’s upcoming The Shrouds.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
You’ve heard of Freaky Friday… well 22 years later and Friday just got a whole lot freakier. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are reprising their roles from the 2003 Disney film as mother-daughter seen in the new teaser trailer for their long-awaited sequel, Freakier Friday.
The teaser sees Lohan’s Anne Colman, now a mother and a soon to be stepmom, going through a magical and chaotic body swap all over again but this time with her daughters and their grandmother in a multigenerational twist.
I guess lightning does strike twice. The original (trailer) grossed $160.8 M on a $20 M budget.
From director Nisha Ganatra (Late Night), Freakier Friday hits theaters on Aug. 8th.
I'm doing my part! (again): Sony announces their new Starship Troopers movie in the very capable hands of Neil Blomkamp (dir: District 9) who will write and direct. Blomkamp’s directive is to stick closer to the original 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlein rather than remaking Paul Verhoeven’s (Dir: Total Recall) 1997 satirical film.
This full-scale war against giant bugs may be more downbeat this time around based on the novel’s themes of militarism and service-based citizenship.
Sony also plans for a TV series based on Starship video game spinoff Helldivers, which will surely be much more comedic vs. Blomkamp's more somber affair, I say bring them both on, you can never have enough sci-fi extermination. It's exciting that both of these mediums can live in bug stomping harmony.
Helldivers 2 comparison.
Tidbit:
A Cloverfield sequel, announced in 2022, remains in development. The director, Babak Anvari (prod: A24’s The Front Room) recently hinted at progress at Hallow Road’s SXSW premiere, a film that he directed starring Rosamund Pike. Unlike past spin-offs, this film will be a direct follow-up to the 2008 original. Cloverfield 1 took what worked for other found footage films and ratcheted everything up a notch (original trailer - never gets old).
Renewals:
Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso (renewed for Season 4)
Mini Tidbits:
Warner Bros.’ Mickey 17 is releasing on Digital on March 25th. This is 2.5 weeks after the March 7th opening.
CMC Pictures’ Ne Zha 2 is reporting a $2.085 bn gross. This makes it the 5th highest grossing film of all time, unseating Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens (2015) which made $2.056 bn.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Given her previous work something tells me Jenna Ortega would have no problem playing a psycho stalker. The Wednesday actress is set to star opposite Taylor Russell (Bones and All) in a remake of ‘90s psychological thriller Single White Female.
The guilty pleasure 1992 drama (trailer) from director Barbet Schroeder originally saw classic Hollywood actresses Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh as new roommates, one with a gradually growing deep fascination with the other.
No word on if Ortega or Russell will play the pathologically obsessive roommate. But it would be fun to see Ortega as the more grounded of the two, slowly letting Taylor Russell unnerve her.
Under a deal with Sony, 3000 Pictures is producing the upcoming remake. There is no word yet on a director or script.
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Tidbits:
Willa Fitzgerald joins Paramount’s Regretting You, directed by Josh Boone and based on Colleen Hoover’s novel. She will join a cast of Allison Williams, Dave Franco, and Mckenna Grace as the ensemble explores grief and secrets after a tragic accident. This could potentially be a softer, quieter role for Fitzgerald, known for explosive roles like the twisty cat and mouse number she does in Strange Darling, or the spitfire confidence of officer Roscoe in Reacher. Regretting You is currently in production.
Jason Ritter joins HBO’s Lanterns as Billy Macon, a small-town egotist under his father’s control, William Macon, a ruthless, conspiracy theorist. Not immediately popping up as a comic book counterpart, Macon's role appears to be show exclusive. This is DC's spin on a true detective buddy cop story but with a superhero twist. The series is planning to release sometime in 2025.
Fresh off her breakout performance in Paramount+’s 1883, Isabel May is set to join Skydance Sports’ upcoming football drama Mr. Irrelevant. The inspiring true story will follow John Tuggle, a last round pick from the 1983 draft who would go on to majorly impact his team and the league as a whole. May will reportedly star opposite Pearl’s David Corenswet with 50/50 director Jonathan Levine to direct.
FESTIVALS
Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother is set to premiere at Cannes. Featuring Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, and Adam Driver.
Here’s the synopsis:
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents
This is Jarmusch’s first film in six years, after The Dead Don't Die. Production wrapped on Father Mother Sister Brother June 2024. Mubi will distribute.
F*ckups Anonymous wins SXSW Independent TV pilot program. Here’s the synopsis:
A rebellious teenager is sent to a therapeutic boarding school with controversial methods where the treatment of a fellow classmate on his first day makes the consequences of his actions frighteningly clear.
The director is Kat Whalen (Co-Producer: Succession).
Tidbit:
Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary No Other Land still doesn’t have US distribution. But it was just picked up by Front Row Filmed Entertainment (The Apprentice, The Substance) for Middle East, North Africa. Here’s our full cover story on the film:
https://theindustry.co/p/brad-pitt-and-no-other-land
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Almost a year after it premiered at Cannes, we get a deeper, darker look at David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Karsh, an innovative businessman and grieving widower, builds a device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud.
Cronenberg, known for psychological portraiture of degradation that burns into your cerebrum, made this a more personal film, inspired by the passing of his wife, Carolyn Cronenberg.
The Shrouds stars Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, and Guy Pearce. Sideshow and Janus are co-distributing. Set for a limited release April 18th, wide release on April 25th.
Full trailer here.
Tidbit:
The duo behind the 2019 Netflix miniseries The Valhalla Murders are behind a climate disaster series titled Avalanche. From filmmakers Thordur Palsson and Óttar Nordfjord, the series will follow a meteorologist who returns to her hometown to warn the villagers of an imminent catastrophe, with cameras picking up next week.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Sony Pictures Classics picks up Sundance gem Oh, Hi! starring The Bear’s Molly Gordon and Percy Jackson’s lead Logan Lerman, the sophomore feature from writer-director Sophie Brooks.
Official Logline:
Iris and Isaac’s first romantic weekend getaway goes awry in a most unexpected way.
After having written several acclaimed short films, Brooks’ first feature The Boy Downstairs (2017, trailer) is an indie comedy that feels a little lighter, a more traditional romance story, compared to the young director’s newest feature that leans more dark and suspenseful.
SPC said following its Sundance premiere:
“It is youthful and hilarious yet with just the right amount of danger.”
No official release date announced as of late.
Charlie Sextro joins Utopia! For those that are Sundance regulars, Charlie is a familiar face. He’s been the Senior Film Programmer for 13 years.
He was just named SVP of Acquisitions & Business Development at Utopia (Distributor: Red Rooms, Shiva Baby).
Sextro stated:
“I refuse to buy into pessimists’ proclamations about the death of indie film, a sector I have dedicated myself to. It’s exciting to see savvy filmmakers finding success by getting creative in distribution deals that maximize returns and allow them to retain control of their releases.”
Utopia distributes some of the boldest indie films each year. If you haven’t seen Red Rooms (2024, trailer) it is one of the most magnetizing portraits of digital obsession I have ever witnessed.
We’re glad to see Sextro has found such a welcoming home.
Tidbits:
Eli Roth is looking for scareholders: I mean, shareholders. The director-producer, always known for pushing the limits, is doing the same thing with crowdfunding. Roth has launched The Horror Section, a horror media company producing films, TV, gaming etc. Partnering with Media Capital Technologies, Roth promises extreme horror IPs allowing fans to invest via Republic, owning up to 10% and enjoying perks like on-screen deaths. Roth also plans to subvert ratings boards, inspired by Terrifier, to work with Iconic events to get his films, no matter how gory, directly to the fans. Just like one of Roth's films, we are on the edge of our seats.
Universal Pictures is producing an Iron Maiden documentary: directed by Malcolm Venville, to commemorate the band's 50th anniversary. The film will feature interviews with current and former members, including the late Paul Di'Anno, and appearances by contemporaries and fans including Javier Bardem, Gene Simmons, and Lars Ulrich. Scheduled for international theatrical release in autumn 2025.
ON THIS DAY
1960. Breathless, directed by Jean-Luc Godard is released in France
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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