Village Roadshow's Bankruptcy and Why It's Important to the Film Industry
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Village Roadshow, Ellen Burstyn’s daughter and Jacob Elordi’s older self.
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Village Roadshow (prod company/financier: Wonka, the Matrix series, and Ocean’s 11) has filed for bankruptcy.
It’s a rough indicator of where we are in 2025 when one of the last independent production companies working with the studios goes under.
Here’s their balance sheet:
$400 M in library value of 100+ films (89 of which they co-own with Warner Bros.)
$500 M - $1bn total debt
$1.4 M in debt to WGA, whose members were told to stop working with Roadshow in December
$794 K owed to Bryan Cranston’s prod company
$250 K owed to Sony Pictures TV
$300 K/month overhead
The crowning expense that brought down this 36-year-old production company is the $18 M in (unpaid) legal fees from a lengthy and currently unresolved arbitration with their long-time partner Warner Bros, who they’ve had a co-financing arrangement since the late 90s.
Roadshow sued when WBD released their Matrix Resurrections (2021) film in theaters and on Max simultaneously, causing Roadshow to withhold their portion of the $190 M production costs.
Due to mounting financial pressures, Village Roadshow’s CEO, Steve Mosko, a veteran film and TV exec, left the company in January.
Now, this all falls on the shoulders of Jim Moore, CEO of Vine, an equity firm that owns Village Roadshow, as well as Luc Besson’s prod company EuropaCorp.
We’ll see who lines up to buy the library and settle with Warner Bros.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
David Kramer will become the CEO of UTA. He started in their mailroom in 1992.
J.J. Abrams returns to TV as a co-writer for Max’s Duster.
FX’s Snowfall spinoff gets a pilot.
Lionsgate’s Saw XI is stalled.
Newcomer Lily McInerny is alluring in Bonjour Tristesse, which premiered at TIFF.
Pamela Anderson will play Ellen Burstyn’s daughter in Place to Be.
Daisy Ridley will lead the rom-com The Last Resort.
Ozark’s Janet McTeer joins Paramount's new Guy Ritchie series MobLand.
Colin Farrell is in talks to star in DC's Sgt. Rock after Daniel Craig dropped.
Fifth Season inks major broadcast deals for Godzilla Minus One.
Justin Kurzel’s (dir: Nitram) new Prime series looks astonishing.
Harmony Korine’s latest Baby Invasion has shades of Spring Breakers.
Paramount’s John Curbishley is heading to BBC to take on the role of Chief Strategy Officer.
CJ ENM (Parasite) is priming a slate of 65 projects for this upcoming year.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
From Mailroom to CEO. David Kramer, currently the President of UTA, will be elevated to CEO on June 1st. He started at UTA in 1992 and, throughout his career, repped:
Charlie Kaufman
Judd Apatow
Brad Bird
Saying goodbye from the CEO role is Jeremy Zimmer, who was at UTA since the start of its formation in 1991, repping greats like Bryan Cranston, Anthony Hopkins, and M. Night Shyamalan. He will remain on the board of directors.
J.J. Abrams returns to TV as co-writer for Duster, a 1970s-set crime thriller on Max, co-created with LaToya Morgan. Duster follows the first Black female FBI agent (Rachel Hilson) recruiting a getaway driver (Josh Holloway) to dismantle a crime syndicate. An interesting take on the buddy cop genre, and a welcome return for Abrams back to TV.
Duster will be on Max sometime in 2025.
FX’s Snowfall spinoff gets a pilot. The original was a melodic and dramatic deep dive into the world of cocaine. The spinoff picks up where the last one left off, in 90s LA:
Recovering addict (Gail Bean) strives to take West Coast rap mainstream despite potential infighting from a harrowing gang war.
Malcolm Spellman (Writer: Bel-Air, Empire) will write and EP. Bean and Isaiah John will reprise their roles.
Tidbits:
Waste my time! Conan O’Brien is back to host the Oscars 2026. He crushed the awards ceremony just a couple of weeks ago, which hit a post-pandemic high of 19.69 M views.
Riverdale star Lili Reinhart is set to star and produce Amazon MGM Studios’ Fake Wedding, a romcom based on a true story of two broke singles joining forces to cash in on the registry. Reinhart will be producing under her Small Victory banner through a first-look deal with the streamer.
NBC has picked up an untitled comedy pilot based at a Native American community center. The series comes from writers/producers Sierra Teller Ornelas, Jackie Keliiaa, and Bobby Wilson, who previously worked as staff writers on the Peacock original Rutherford Falls (2021-22).
Lionsgate’s Saw XI is stalled. The producers have disagreed about the direction of the film, compromising the project. The last film was a critical (81% RT) and commercial success, making $112 M worldwide off a $13 M budget.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Lily McInerny is alluring in the upcoming indie Bonjour Tristesse, which premiered at TIFF.
Synopsis:
18-year-old Cécile (McInerny) is relaxing by the French seaside with her father and falling in love with her new boyfriend. The arrival of her late mother’s enigmatic friend (Chloë Sevigny) turns her world upside down.
There’s a subtle quietness to McInerny that allows us to see the world through her eyes (trailer). This is her first lead role, but we loved her in Hulu’s Tell Me Lies (2022) as the innocent and sweet Macy, whose tragic death was the driving conflict of the two seasons.
Greenwich Entertainment releases in theaters on May 2nd.
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Pamela Anderson will play Ellen Burstyn’s daughter in Place to Be by director Kornél Mundruczó (White God).
Here’s the synopsis:
An elderly woman (Burstyn) and a middle-aged man (Taika Waititi) as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon home. Molly (Anderson) is finding her feet after the end of her second marriage and anxious about rehoming her elderly mother.
This is a massive win for Anderson, who was lauded for her vulnerable performance in last year’s The Last Showgirl. We hope to see her in more indies.
Place to Be is currently shooting in Sydney.
Daisy Ridley & Alden Ehrenreich will lead the rom-com The Last Resort. Vet Rom-com director Donald Petrie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) directs and Karen McCullah (Legally Blonde) writes.
Here’s the synopsis for The Last Resort:
A hotel executive (Ridley) is sent to scout a new resort location in the Philippines. She becomes captivated by the breathtaking scenery— and also meets Ben (Ehrenreich), a charming expatriate charter pilot.
This is a sharp departure for Ridley, whose latest romance was her bizarrely stripped-down yet wonderful Sometimes I Think About Dying, and Ehrenreich wasn’t exactly Mr. Charming in Netflix’s Fair Play. But I can see them both inhabiting these roles and shining.
Production is set for early this year.
Tidbits:
Belgian actress and multi-Cannes winner Émilie Dequenne has sadly passed away at 43. She won the prestigious Best Actress award for her role in the 1999 coming-of-age film Rosetta (trailer), which also took home the Palme d’Or that year. Her performance as a deranged mother in the psychological drama Our Children (2012) also earned her widespread critical acclaim. Dequenne was a massive talent and will be missed greatly.
Janet McTeer makes us anxious. The Ozark actress will co-star In Paramount's new series MobLand. McTeer plays a charming but villainous crime boss. No problem seeing her in this role, she was a terrifying force as the cartel boss’s lawyer who loved to get her hands dirty (clip). The MobLand series stars Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren and comes from the mind of director and showrunner Guy Ritchie. It will stream on Paramount+ March 30th.
Colin Farrell is next in line for DC's Sgt. Rock, this is after Daniel Craig's surprising departure from the role. Sgt. Rock was the star of DC's war-based comics, not really affiliated with DC's superheroes; it will be interesting if that will change in Gunn's universe. Farrell is obviously one of the best living actors. There is no doubt he'd do great in the role if he takes it.
Mini Tidbits:
Sam Rockwell gives a delightfully introspective performance in the new season of White Lotus. No spoilers, but even if you don’t watch the show, it’s worth cueing up episode 5 and scrolling to 42:50.
Scott Eastwood (Pacific Rim: Uprising) is the newest actor to join the Colleen Hoover film universe, set to star in Paramount Pictures’ adaptation of her 2019 novel Regretting You. The drama is set to have a theatrical run beginning Oct. 24th.
Bobby Moynihan joins NBC’s untitled Tracy Morgan sports comedy pilot he will be playing Gator, Reggie's (Morgan) former teammate. The series will feature Daniel Radcliffe and Erika Alexander, with long-time creative partner Tina Fey producing and starring.
FESTIVALS
Many films have sold at FILMART, including Godzilla Minus One and a flurry of Sundance films:
https://theindustry.co/p/hong-kong-filmart-sales
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Jacob Elordi has found an art to playing the younger version of established actors. He was Richard Gere’s younger self in Oh, Canada, and now in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a five-part Australian war drama directed by Justin Kurzel (Nitram). He will play a young Ciarán Hinds (Belfast).
It's not as vibrant as Apocalypse Now and not as claustrophobic as Schindler’s List, but Kurzel evokes something a little rawer, even more beautiful. It's a style that the director cultivated in Nitram, which was an acid-soaked portrayal of mental illness.
Based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, the series follows Dorrigo Evans—a young man in a passionate love affair, a POW in Burma, and later, a revered yet troubled surgeon.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North will debut on Prime Video on April 18th.
Watch the trailer. I had a hard time looking away.
There are shades of Spring Breakers in Harmony Korine’s latest Baby Invasion. The color palette, the robberies, even the masks.
Baby Invasion is a surreal home invasion thriller filmed by a first-person shooter who swaps the assailants’ faces with those of babies. Watch all AI ’d-up artsy trailer. It’s the wildest thing I've seen all week.
No release date has been set.
Tidbits:
Former EVP of Corporate Strategy at Paramount, John Curbishley, is heading to BBC to take on the role of Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer. Curbishley, Paramount's guiding force during the pandemic, left last year to rejoin BBC, where his career began.
Director Sam Wrench, known for helming Taylor Swift's 2023 Grammy nominated The Eras Tour concert film, is set to remake the 1980 music drama The Idolmaker. The film was based on the real-life of rock promoter Bob Marcucci. A departure from Wrench's previous documentary work, his understanding of the medium could lead to an interesting reimagining. Original Trailer.
After boosting its content budget by 10%, Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM (Parasite, Snowpiercer) is priming a slate of 65 projects for this upcoming year. One of the many co-productions is Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia, starring the director’s top muses, Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, expected to premiere later this year. With over 20 IP-driven projects in the works through a partnership with Warner Bros, CJ ENM is also working with Paramount, Skydance, and more.
Bad Boys Ride or Die directors Adil & Bilall unveil the first image of their Saudi-shot thriller Seven Dogs, about Interpol confronting a crime syndicate's deadly drug conspiracy.
ON THIS DAY
2008. Anthony Minghella (dir: The Talented Mr. Ripley) dies at 54.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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