Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Tarantino’s Zorro, Amazon’s Dates, and a new wild tale.
Let’s go!
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Final Call - Scriptnotes Event.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Sony revives Tarantino’s Django/Zorro film adaptation.
Paramount asks FCC to approve foreign equity in its WBD acquisition.
Stacey Sher signs first-look TV deal with MGM Television.
Laura Lekkos adapts Amazon MGM’s Expiration Dates w/ Emma Roberts.
Michael Waldron (creator: Chad Powers) renews 20th Television deal.
Eleventh Hour Films develops environmental legal drama A Barrister for the Earth.
DGA extends National Executive Director Russell Hollander’s contract to 2029.
Paapa Essiedu joins Charlize Theron in Amazon MGM’s Tyrant.
Cole Sprouse joins Kathryn Newton in coming-of-age thriller Hot Year.
Jason Statham & David Ayer reunite for Miramax’s John Doe at Cannes Market.
Chris Andrews’ (dir: Bring Them Down) new film is witch-hunt thriller Cavendish.
Madison Wells hires former 30West co-president Dan Steinman as Pres & COO.
Magnetic Labs launches private credit fund.
Damián Szifron (Wild Tales) writes & directs Netflix drama El Sobrino.
ABC’s High Potential gets Polish remake.
Yesterday’s correct answer: 2012, release date for Battleship.
65% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
An unexpected but undeniably awesome collision of worlds.
Sony Pictures’ Django/Zorro pairs Quentin Tarantino’s freed slave-turned bounty hunter, Django, and the legendary swordsman Zorro together on a shared quest for justice, combining both Django’s signature western violence and Zorro’s more classic swashbuckling heroism.
Academy Award winner Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, L.A. Confidential) is attached to write.
But most interestingly, the film will dive into Zorro’s alter ego, which fits better into the Tarantino universe.
Tarantino stated:
“One of the things that’s usually done in Zorro stories is to imply that the foppish mannerisms of Don Diego [alter ego] are a strategic ruse to lull the villains into a false sense of security and to throw suspicion off Zorro’s real identity. But… the foppish mannerisms aren’t a ruse. They are who Don Diego de la Vega is. And the more years pass and the more he hides behind it, the less it’s an affectation, and the more it is who he’s become.”
Tarantino won’t direct the project, finding yet another loophole to stay within his ten-film limit, but the script is inspired by his own 2014 comic book sequel co-written by Matt Wagner, set several years after the events of Django Unchained (2012).
No director has been named, but here’s their comic Django/Zorro Vol. 1.
Paramount submits a foreign ownership public notice to the FCC detailing the ownership/voting structure of its Middle East financiers:
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
15.1% equity ownership
$10bn investment
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (L’imad)
12.8% equity ownership
Qatar Investment Authority
10.6% equity ownership
The trio will invest $24bn for a total equity ownership of 38.5%, non-voting shares. Additional investments will take the total foreign ownership to 49.5%.
Paramount is also asking the FCC to approve “up to 100% indirect aggregate foreign equity and voting interests in the controlling U.S. parent, Paramount.”
Tidbits:
Stacey Sher (Producer: Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight) signs a first-look deal with MGM Television. Her studio, Shiny Penny Productions (Heretic), will develop and produce television series for Amazon. Sher is already producing Amazon’s upcoming Verity (2026, trailer), starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson. MGM Television, looking to make some Emmys splashes after a non-nomination last season, will benefit from her expertise. Her TV work includes Emmy-nominated Hulu’s Mrs. America and AMC’s Into the Badlands.
Michael Waldron (showrunner: Hulu’s Chad Powers) renews his contract with 20th Television. Under the new deal, Waldron and his company, Anomaly Pictures, will write, develop, direct, and produce new projects for Disney Entertainment Television. He has just wrapped production on Chad Powers S2, also directing four of six episodes. Waldron previously worked as a head writer for Disney+’s fan-favorite Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Mini Tidbits:
Laura Lekkos (writer: Amazon’s Relationship Goals) will write Amazon’s adaptation of Rebecca Serle’s Expiration Dates, a romantic drama that follows a woman (Emma Roberts) whose relationships are preordained by mysterious notes predicting their end until one man defies her fate.
Eleventh Hour Films (Alex Rider) and Victoria Asare-Archer (writer: Netflix’s Missing You) are developing a new legal drama based on the 2025 book A Barrister For The Earth. The series focuses on a group of people working in the cut-throat world of environmental law.
Directors Guild of America extends National Executive Director Russell Hollander’s contract through 2029. He has served in the role since 2017 and oversees the Guild’s work of protecting the creative rights of directors, working as a chief negotiator between studios and streamers.
Talk about a powerful partnership. Amazon has struck a multi-year podcast deal with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Entertainment. Wondery, Amazon’s recently acquired podcast network, will have exclusive distribution and advertising rights to The Oprah Podcast beginning July.
Marvel’s The Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway dies at 73. Born in 1952, Conway started publishing comics at 16 and started writing full superhero stories for Marvel in 1971. He created the Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Killer Croc, Ms. Marvel, and the iconic Marvel anti-hero Frank Castle, aka “The Punisher”.
Cancellations:
DC Studios’ The Authority (no longer in development)
Trailers:
Paramount Pictures’ Jackass: Best and Last
Release: June 26
HBO Max’s House of the Dragon S3
Cast: Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy
Release: June 21
Abramorama’s Louder than Guns (doc)
Release: May 8
Release Dates:
Universal Pictures’ The Catch
Cast: Emma Stone, Chris Pine
Release: May 21, 2027
Netflix’s Enola Holmes 3
Dir: Philip Barantini (Accused)
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill
Release: July 1st
Hulu’s Alice and Steve
Wri: Sophie Goodhart (Sex Education)
Cast: Jemaine Clement, Nicola Walker
Release: June 8
Illumination’s Minions & Monsters
Dir: Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me franchise)
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch
Premiere: June 21
U.S. Release: July 1
Shoot Date:
Netflix’s Monsanto
Dir: John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side)
Cast: Jonathan Bailey, Laura Dern
Shooting: April ~ August 2026
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
The new Severus Snape in a culinary thriller. Paapa Essiedu (HBO’s Harry Potter series, I May Destroy You) is starring in Amazon MGM’s thriller Tyrant. He is joining a star-studded cast, alongside Charlize Theron, Julia Garner, and Demi Moore. The film is set to be a Whiplash-esque thriller set within NYC’s elite fine dining scene, directed by David Weil, the longtime writer for Prime Video’s series Hunters. While there is no info on his role, we’d love to see him take on something that contrasts with his upcoming portrayal of Severus Snape this December, perhaps a more vulnerable student rather than the iconic “mean professor”.
Cole Sprouse (Riverdale) joins Kathryn Newton (Lisa Frankenstein) and Storm Reid (Missing) in a coming-of-age thriller, Hot Year. Directed by Roxy Sophie Sorkin (daughter of Aaron Sorkin), the film follows two childhood best friends who try to take revenge on an ex-boyfriend, only to fall into a violent incident that they can’t take back. Sprouse has been playing the role of a cynical writer, Jughead Jones, for 7 seasons in CW’s Riverdale, and it would be interesting to see him play a toxic ex-boyfriend. He had great chemistry with Kathryn Newton in Lisa Frankenstein (2024), and we would love to see their brutal adventures continue in this new film.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Cannes Market:
Miramax’s John Doe
Cast: Jason Statham
Dir: David Ayer (A Working Man, The Beekeeper)
Writer: Zak Penn (Ready Player One, Free Guy)
Prod Co/Financier/Sales Rep: Black Bear
Synopsis:
Follows a man with no memory or past who only remembers one face: Eliza. As his identity returns, he discovers he was trained for a mission and is hunted by those who sent him.
Sounds a bit like The Bourne Identity but leaning a little more action-heavy, if that’s possible. This is the third time Miramax/Statham/Black Bear, and Ayer are all working together, previously producing The Beekeeper ($163M WW) and A Working Man ($89M WW).
Full list of Cannes market titles here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Chris Andrews’ sophomore film, Cavendish, takes us into the past with a great cast.
The film is set in 1645 and follows Sophie Thatcher (Heretic), who is accused of witchcraft on her wedding, and who is pursued by a ruthless witchhunter, Joe Alwyn (The Brutalist).
Andrews’ first film, Mubi’s Bring Them Down, starring Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott, had a similar level of pastoral violence. It’s a slow-moving film that somehow contains multitudes about isolation and responsibility (trailer). We can’t wait to see how Andrews showcases this new world.
Selling at Cannes Market. CAA is the domestic sales rep. Cornerstone is international.
Tidbits:
Producer Gigi Pritzker’s Madison Wells (prod co: Hell or High Water) has hired veteran exec Dan Steinman as President and COO. Steinman spent almost a decade as co-president of 30West (I, Tonya) and is joining Madison after a profitable 2025 from projects like Netflix’s Nonnas and Sundance’s short film award winner, Steph Curry’s The Baddest Speechwriter of All. Steinman’s last project before taking on his new role was Lionsgate’s Power Ballad starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.
Magnetic Labs (Ingrid Goes West), fka 141 Entertainment, is launching a private credit fund. The fund has provided initial investments toward the company’s next film, the true-crime biopic The Leader, starring Vera Farmiga and Tim Blake Nelson, set to premiere at Tribeca this June.
More tidbits here, including a fun directorial debut and a Kraken.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
There’s no international director who taps into the pure, crazed, id-driven primal anger more than Damián Szifron.
Szifron will write and direct Netflix’s El Sobrino.
Synopsis:
An internationally renowned pianist’s world turns upside down when he discovers his nine-year-old nephew possesses a musical talent that could surpass his own.
In 2014, Szifron directed Sony Pictures Classics’ Wild Tales. If you haven’t seen it, drop what you’re doing and watch the first sequence. The guy understands how jealousy and rage can externalize. And El Sobrino seems like the perfect vehicle for exploring how the pianist goes mad.
Yoon Jong-Bin (Dir: The Spy Gone North) is making his next historical political drama, The Generals.
The film will follow real-life historical figures Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan, who were responsible for the Gwangju massacre when they ordered soldiers to open fire at civilians, causing more than 2,000 casualties. Korean big names like Son Suk-ku (My Liberation Notes) and Ha Jung-woo (Along with the Gods franchise) have joined the cast.
It seems like Korea is turning more towards putting their historical events on the big screen, ever since 12.12: The Day (2023) grossed more than $100M worldwide.
Mini Tidbits:
ABC’s High Potential is getting a Polish remake. The original show (trailer) follows a cleaner at the Los Angeles Police Department who unexpectedly gets recruited as a civilian consultant on various crimes. Under the name Genialna M., the remake will go to local channel Polsat and Paramount’s streamer SkyShowtime.
Luis Puenzo, the director behind Argentina’s first Oscar win, The Official Story (1985, trailer), has passed away at 80. The political drama told the personal and national trauma of Argentina’s last military dictatorship, followed by the Jane Fonda-led Old Gringo (1989). The bold filmmaker was not just a trailblazing director but an international success.
ON THIS DAY
1974. Penélope Cruz born in Madrid, Spain.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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