Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Jeremy Allen White’s Springsteen, Blumhouse closes Saw. And a Revenge Club.
Let’s go!
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Who's the Boss?
Jeremy Allen White looks ready to lead in the trailer for the new Bruce Springsteen biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Focusing on the painful creation of Springsteen’s sixth album, Nebraska, following the mainstream success of his album The River, but before he became an icon with Born in the USA.
Much like the album itself, Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) is stripping back much of the frills we have seen in recent biopics (yes, the monkey one) and focusing on Springsteen's state of mind: a crossroads in his career that left us with one of the great American albums.
That career inflection point is also reflected in its leading man, Jeremy Allen White, exploding out of FX’s The Bear and into this film, his first major lead role in a studio film.
The trailer shows White not only embodying the boss and capturing his mannerisms, but his singing is damn near identical. Some biopics do their best to hit the voice, but there is always a bit of the actor in there. White has virtually disappeared into Springsteen's steely croon. And his ability to tap into psychological pain, so vivid in The Bear, is still present here, but now it’s gorgeously internalized.
Don't let the lack of flash confuse you; it's all in there. He's just being a person, not a myth.
Deliver Me From Nowhere is in theaters October 24.
For More:
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Alcon acquires Village Roadshow’s 100+ film library for $417.5M.
Paramount & Universal reunite for Meet the Parents 4.
New Regency secures financing from Shamrock Capital for its library.
Blumhouse buys 50% stake in Saw.
James Bobin is in talks to direct Netflix’s Dragon’s Lair starring Ryan Reynolds.
Searchlight Pictures adapts bestselling novel The Glitch.
Shamier Anderson cast in Olympic gold medalist doping scandal biopic.
A24 casts Cory Michael Smith in Jeremy Saulnier’s thriller October.
Tribeca Studios partners with OpenAI for AI shorts.
Sony Pictures Classics acquires Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe.
Lena Waithe’s prod company, Hillman Grad, downsizes.
Netflix lands TF1 carriage deal in France.
Wong Kar-wai’s Blossoms Shanghai heads to Criterion Channel.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Alcon Entertainment (prod company: The Garfield Movie, Bladerunner 2049) has purchased Village Roadshow’s (prod company/financier: Wonka, the Matrix series) film library for $417.5M.
Village Roadshow recently went bankrupt, with an estimated $500 M - $1bn total debt and $18M in unpaid legal fees for a lawsuit with WB.
Alcon takes the rights and royalties for their films:
100+ films (89 of which they co-own with Warner Bros.)
Generating $50M/year in royalties
They will also take over Roadshow’s in-development projects, including Practical Magic 2.
Paramount and Universal team up on Meet the Parents 4. Each studio will co-produce with Paramount taking international and Universal taking domestic. This follows the arrangement for the three originals:
Meet the Parents (2000)
$55M budget
$330.4M total box office
Domestic: Universal
International: DreamWorks
Meet the Fockers (2004)
$80M budget
$522.7M total box office
Domestic: Universal
International: DreamWorks
Little Fockers (2010)
$100M budget
$310.7M total box office
Domestic: Universal
International: Paramount (following Paramount’s acquisition of DreamWorks)
The new film will star Ariana Grande, plus original cast members De Niro and Stiller.
Tidbit:
New Regency has secured a library partnership with Shamrock Capital and new credit facilities via JPMorgan. Shamrock has given Regency money upfront in exchange for a share in future profits from their library (non-equity deal). Amid costly flops (Amsterdam, Deep Water, The Northman), New Regency CEO Yariv Milchan is leveraging the studio's rich library (Birdman, The Revenant) for liquidity.
Bestselling novel The Glitch is getting adapted by Searchlight Pictures in a reunion with Marielle Heller (dir. Nightbitch) and Leah Holzer’s Defiant by Nature production company (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). The satirical time-traveling romance book follows a young woman who, after a failed birthday wish, is sent five years into the past to change her future.
You-Tubi: Tubi has launched Tubi for Creators, partnering with top YouTube creators to add over 500 episodes to its free platform. Well-known creators include Rhett and Link, FunnyMike, and Watcher. This is part of Tubi’s plan to have pockets of content to target niche viewers, crystallizing the CEO’s plan to create “personalized TV.” Tubi has 275,000 pieces of content and hit 100M monthly users.
Mini Tidbits:
James Bobin (The Muppets) is in talks to direct Netflix’s Dragon’s Lair adaptation, starring Ryan Reynolds. The film pulls from the animated arcade classic, which many consider one of the first video games of its kind. Clip.
Hera Pictures (BBC’s What it Feels Like for a Girl) is optioning a series adaptation of Nothing Good Happens After 2am, a novel by Irish author Niamh Hargan. Set in the world of high-end competitive cocktail making.
Saw's new house: Blumhouse has acquired Twisted Pictures’ 50% stake in the Saw franchise for roughly $90M. This reunites James Wan with the IP he co-created. Lionsgate, still owning 50%, remains a partner moving forward.
The Academy’s Board of Governors (those who oversee the Academy) has elected Focus Features Chairperson Peter Kujawski, Marlee Matlin (re-elected), Jason Reitman (re-elected), and Jason Blum (re-elected). A total of 17 elections were held.
Set to lead programming strategies, Meeri Cunniff has been appointed by Disney and ABC News Group to oversee content planning for FX Networks, Freeform, and Disney Entertainment’s free ad-supported streaming channels. Focus: driving audience reach and finding growth opportunities.
NBCUniversal’s Jessica Kurdali is moving to Comcast’s Versant as SVP of Talent Strategy. She will now oversee all talent management, recruitment, and development across the company’s networks.
Netflix’s Mindhunter may return as three movies. Scripts are currently being written according to the lead, Holt McCallany.
2026 Golden Globes Rules and Entry form here.
Renewals:
Netflix’s Bad Thoughts (for Season 2)
Creator/Star: Tom Segura
Sky’s The Trip (for Season 5)
Star: Steve Coogan
Release dates:
Netflix’s A House Of Dynamite
Dir: Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson
Limited theatrical release: October
Trailers:
FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 17)
Danny DeVito goes on The Golden Bachelor Trailer
Premiere: July 19th
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Shamier Anderson doesn’t play by the rules. He will star in Paramount+ Canada’s Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story as the titular Olympic world record sprinter who lost his medals due to doping.
Anderson’s most recent role in The Luckiest Man in the World (starring Paul Walter Hauser) also centered on a cheat. Anderson’s predatory ability to sniff out BS in that film is an alluring quality that may get corrupted in The Ben Johnson Story.
BBC’s latest drama, California Avenue, from Hugo Blick (writer/dir of The Shadow Line) is set in the 70s English countryside. Follows a dysfunctional family:
Bill Nighy
Helena Bonham Carter
Tom Burke (Black Bag)
Erin Doherty (Adolescence)
Doherty plays a mom arriving with her teen child to disrupt an already fractured family that unites to put their demons to rest.
Tidbit:
Cory Michael Smith, who crushed it as Chevy Chase in Saturday Night and recently played a pompous billionaire in Max’s Mountainhead, is set to lead A24’s October from Jeremy Saulnier (Rebel Ridge). The film is a fugitive thriller set during Halloween.
Connie Britton (The White Lotus) has joined the Steve Carell-led untitled campus-set comedy as Carell’s ex-wife. Produced by Warner Bros. Television.
FESTIVALS / TECH SECTION
Two SXSW films have sold internationally:
Redux Redux
Time travel trailer
Sold to 11 territories, including Spain
The Surrender
Sold to 7 territories, including Spain
Blue Finch Films serves as the sales rep on both.
Tribeca Studios is partnering with OpenAI to help two filmmakers create short films that will play at the 2026 edition of the festival. This expands the festival’s interest in using AI in filmmaking, with one TribecaX talk exploring an AI film from Darren Aronofsky, a good use case.
A bad use case? YouTube is integrating its Veo 3 technology (discussed in the above link) into its YouTube Shorts platform.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Sony Pictures Classics acquires the Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, and Michael Shannon-led Nuremberg. The film centers on the historical Nuremberg trials of the Nazis.
The official synopsis:
American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Malek) is tasked with determining whether Nazi prisoners are fit to stand trial for their war crimes, pitted against Hermann Göring (Crowe), Hitler’s right-hand man. Chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials court, Justice Robert H. Jackson (Shannon).
This is the sophomore feature of writer/director James Vanderbilt (writer: Zodiac). His previous feature, also for SPC, was Truth starring Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett (trailer). Both films center on truth under scrutiny.
Release date: November 7.
Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard tore into the psychological rollercoaster of the musician Nick Cave in the docu/drama 20,000 Days on Earth (trailer).
Their newest project is The Extraordinary Miss Flower.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Geraldine Flower and the discovery of a suitcase of letters sent to her in the 1960s and 1970s that inspired acclaimed Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini to return to the studio.
After playing in the UK through BFI, it has been picked up for distribution in Australia, New Zealand, and the Baltic.
Here’s a vibrant trailer.
Tidbit:
Bloody double feature: Cineverse, Bloody Disgusting, and Iconic Events Releasing will bring horror reboots, Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Return to Silent Hill, to theaters. The former, starring Rohan Campbell, opens December 12 as an unrated wide release. The latter, from Christophe Gans, arrives January 23.
Lena Waithe’s production company Hillman Grad (Queen & Slim, A Thousand and One, The Chi) has let go of its CEO and head of development as it downsizes and shifts to projects that can be led by Waithe as writer/producer/director/creator/star. Looks like they’ll still continue to champion emerging filmmakers through Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab, but they’re scaling back.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Netflix’s charges into France. Netflix will now host all of TF1’s programming, the largest broadcaster in France, on their platform.
Includes: live broadcasts, on-demand content, high-end French dramas, reality TV, and live sports coverage.
Netflix is seeking near-saturation throughout Europe with this partnership, likely setting a model for other adjacent territories.
Deal kicks off summer 2026.
Wong Kar-wai’s Blossoms Shanghai will now exclusively stream on the Criterion Channel (NA): This is the legendary director’s return after a 12-year hiatus with this 30-episode TV adaptation chronicling the rise of a self-made millionaire in 1990s Shanghai. Trailer.
Paramount+ UK greenlights The Revenge Club, a dark thriller about a divorce support group turned vengeful.
New hires:
Netflix’s Happy Valley producers Will Johnston and Laura Lankester have been signed on by A24, joining their London team to expand the studio’s international small screen output. They’re currently in production, with BBC Studios, on Netflix’s new miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
Distribution giant Banijay Rights has brought on Lottie Wilson as VP of Australia and New Zealand. She will be responsible for the company’s sales strategy across the region, representing its entire catalogue.
Courteney Tarantin joins CJ ENM (Parasite) as scripted TV VP. She will link the Korean powerhouse studio to the US as she develops English-language scripted series. She previously served as VP of TV at Dan Lin’s Rideback.
From Intern to President. Kyle Loftus, after 16 years of working at Independent Artist Group (clients: Sylvester Stallone, Gary Oldman, Lindsay Lohan) has become President.
After 12 years with the BBC, Kate Phillips has been named the new Chief Content Officer. Previously, as director of unscripted, she worked on The Traitors.
ON THIS DAY
2015. Inside Out is released.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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I look forward to seeing this picture, which sounds OUTSTANDING! 👏👏
He’s gonna repair the entire world! Give me a fucking break.