Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Two Harry Potters, Two Adam Sandlers, and Concrete.
Let’s go!
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Grab your wand, class is back in session.
HBO’s highly anticipated Harry Potter series has released a trailer for season one, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, bringing us back to where the magic all began.
The trailer takes us back to the cramped cupboard, the shy-eyed Harry, the letter from Hogwarts, the paternal Wizard Hagrid (Nick Frost), the Hogwarts Express, talking hats, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Dumbledore (Jon Lithgow), and of course, Snape (Paapa Essiedu).
Watching, I felt two things instantly.
One, the magic of the Harry Potter universe, both the first book, which my parents read to me when I was a child, and the first film (Dir: Chris Columbus), which I watched in theaters when it was released in 2001, with extreme awe.
Second, that I was watching a simulacrum of the Columbus film. E.g., a version so beholden to the earlier film that it struggles to find its own voice. There’s something about how closely they’ve kept the majority of the casting, wardrobe, and set that makes it impossible not to draw a side-by-side comparison (in fact, many of these have exploded across the internet).
However, HBO is devoting an entire season to the first book (vs. the 2.5hr film), so it will be a more in-depth, if not intimate, adaptation.
One avenue the trailer hints at: a deeper exploration into Potter’s childhood trauma. And in this way, it would be an improvement over the first Potter film, which excelled at creating the “magic,” but never delved too deeply into the burden that Potter carries from losing his parents and growing up in an abusive home. Potter’s rapid assimilation into the wizarding world always struck me as off, given his heavy burden from childhood.
It would be a bold choice for HBO, balancing the expectations of millions of fans while forging something darker. So much has changed in the quarter-century since the first film was released, and we’re hoping some of these cultural conditions have seeped into the storytelling.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is scheduled to premiere on HBO this Christmas Day.
For More:
HBO trailer
Chris Columbus trailer.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Netflix adapts Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, w/ Gwyneth Paltrow to star.
Amazon’s new film is Romantic Hero, with Jennifer Salke producing.
FX is developing a rom-com pilot, Hopeless.
Netflix’s boarding-school drama All Boys is produced by Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps.
Amazon MGM extended Marc Resteghini’s overall TV and first-look film deal.
Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt is exiting.
MRC lost its $100M court fight tied to Kevin Spacey’s exit from House of Cards.
Adam Sandler will star in Netflix’s Time Out, directed by Scott Cooper.
Snoop Dogg joins Shia LaBeouf in God of the Rodeo.
Leila George cast in Oliver Stone’s White Lies.
Magnolia picked up John Wilson’s Sundance documentary The History of Concrete.
Abramorama picks up Telluride’s doc Ask E. Jean.
BBC Studios is adapting Danish long-runner Klassen for Germany.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Oliver Stone wrote Scarface and Conan the Barbarian.
62% got it right.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
FX is developing a comedy pilot, Hopeless, from Jeff Chan (dir: Plus One, XO, Kitty) and Rob Mac (Welcome to Wrexham). The show will follow two people who fall in love after one of them starts giving out the other’s number as a fake at bars. 20th Television, More Better Productions, and 3 Arts are also attached to produce. Chan is a genius in hiding. Plus One, another story about folks that don’t want to fall in love, falling in love was comedic and poignant.
Two book adaptations from:
Netflix + Gwyneth Paltrow
Amazon MGM + Jennifer Salke
Mini Tidbit:
Alena Smith (creator of Dickinson) has an upcoming Netflix drama, All Boys. Set at an all-boys boarding school in New England, the series will follow a middle-aged teacher and alumnus of the school who is trying to prepare the students for a better future. Shawn Levy’s (Deadpool & Wolverine) 21 Laps Entertainment is on board to produce.
Amazon MGM Studios has extended Young Sherlock EP Marc Resteghini’s overall television deal and first-look film agreement for another three years. Through his Jack Tar Pictures, Resteghini will continue to develop future projects, including the upcoming animated series Wings of Fire.
The CEO of Fathom Entertainment (Distributor: re-release Coraline, LOTR, etc.), Ray Nutt, is exiting. He joined the company in 2017.
Disney Branded Television has brought on Netflix’s longtime production executive, Atiya Henry, as new EVP of Production. She will oversee all of Disney Television’s portfolio, both animated and live-action, including the Descendants franchise, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Phineas and Ferb.
LA County will be doing a full investigation on “Protecting Entertainment Jobs: Evaluating the Economic Impact of the Purchase of Warner Bros.” Read their full plan here.
MRC (financier: Saltburn, Wuthering Heights) has lost a court case in which they were seeking $100M in losses tied to Kevin Spacey’s exit from the last season of Netflix’s House of Cards. Spacey took the stand in MRC’s defense (they had previously sued the actor, but dropped the case when he joined them).
Cancellations:
Hulu’s Don’t Get High (pilot)
Cast: Tony Hale
Creator: Megan Ganz (prod: Modern Family, Community)
Trailers:
Netflix’s Apex
Cast: Charlize Theron vs. Taron Egerton
Release: April 24
Monument
Dir: Bryan Singer
Cast: Jon Voight
Now in theaters
DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island
Voice Cast: H.E.R.
Release: Oct 16
Lionsgate’s The Furious
Premiere: TIFF
Release: May 29
Release dates:
Universal’s Murder, She Wrote
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis
Release: Dec 22, 2027
Blue Harbor’s An Autumn Summer
Cast: Lukita Maxwell and Mark McKenna
Release: May 1
Sony’s Affirm Films’ Live Like That
Cast: Esai Morales
Release: Feb. 26, 2027
Shooting in April:
Amazon MGM Studios’ Honeymoon with Harry
Cast: Kevin Costner, Jake Gyllenhaal
The Bookie and the Bruiser
Dir: S. Craig Zahler
Cast: Theo James, Vince Vaughn
Legendary’s Gundam
Cast: Sydney Sweeney
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
The double life of Adam Sandler. Sandler will star in Netflix’s Time Out, a new film from Scott Cooper (dir: Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere), a remake of the acclaimed French film L’Emploi du Temps (2001).
We won’t spoil the film, but it’s a drama. And Sandler’s character is living a double life. It’s not that much of a stretch, as Sandler is a dramatic actor masquerading as a comedic one. Just take a look at Uncut Gems or Punch Drunk Love. He doesn’t go there very often, but the results are great.
Netflix may have gotten a little taste of this when Sandler played a thankless manager in Jay Kelly.
The cast of Time Out includes Willem Dafoe, Gaby Hoffmann, F. Murray Abraham, and Steve Zahn.
Tidbits:
Grey’s Anatomy’s friends-turned-star-crossed-lovers-turned-co-parenting-exes are exiting the show. Longtime cast members Kim Raver, who played Dr. Teddy Altman for twelve seasons, and Kevin McKidd, who starred as Dr. Owen Hunt for eighteen seasons and directed multiple episodes, have both filmed their final episode. Fans have already been expecting the tumultuous duo’s storyline to come to a close sooner rather than later. They will last be seen on the season 22 finale airing May 7th on ABC.
Snoop Dogg joins Shia LaBeouf in God of the Rodeo, a 1967-set crime thriller about a Louisiana inmate finding redemption through the prison’s first-ever rodeo. Directed by Rosalind Ross and produced by Giannina and Ridley Scott. Curious to see how the chillest man on the planet will pair up with the most volatile. Of course, that’s all just their personal branding.
Love Story’s Leila George is set to join Josh Hartnett in White Lies, a family drama from Oliver Stone. Told across three generations, it follows Hartnett’s character messing up his family and making the same mistakes his parents did, until he decides to go on a journey to rediscover himself. George’s role is unknown.
Casting Tidbits:
NBC’s Protection
Netflix’s Gundam
Apple TV’s The Studio
All those casting tidbits and more here.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Magnolia picks up John Wilson’s first feature film, The History of Concrete. The film premiered at Sundance and covers everything from sidewalk gum to ancient roads.
The unconventional doc explores Wilson’s offbeat observational style, expanding on his singular voice, which he honed across three seasons of HBO’s How To With John Wilson (Touch and Go clip), where mundane subjects become deeply personal meditations.
Ronald Bronstein (wri: Uncut Gems) and Josh Safdie are producers on The History of Concrete. No word on release date.
Tidbits:
Eric André saves the world. He will star in Synergy Systems, where he plays a sad, sloppy data analyst who learns that his company is going to destroy the world. Sounds like there’s a little bit of Boots Riley in there. From Toby Harvard, writer of Sundance midnight film The Greasy Strangler (I still see their Sundance swag everywhere!).
2x Oscar-winning DP, James Wong Howe (Sweet Smell of Success) gets a biopic. Hong Kong filmmaker Herman Yau (Shock Wave) will direct The Cinematographer, which will follow the life and career of the pioneering Chinese-American filmmaker.
Imagine Documentaries (Music by John Williams) and Concord Originals (Blue Moon) are teaming on Pa’l Pueblo: Fania for the People, a doc from Raquel Cepeda on Fania Records and the Fania All-Stars, exploring salsa’s roots in the US.
Mini Tidbit:
Abramorama picks up the doc Ask E. Jean, directed by Ivy Meeropol. It follows “gonzo journalist E. Jean Carroll, the only woman to beat Trump in court. Twice.”
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BBC Studios is adapting Denmark’s longest-running series, Klassen, for Germany. The show follows everyday dramas of school life, spanning over 1000 episodes. The German version will likely bring a more grounded tone, leaning into realism like Druck and How to Sell Drugs Online.
Spain’s AF Films collaborates with Hidden Pictures (The Housemaid) on action-thriller Chopper. The film will follow a scarred veteran helicopter pilot whose aircraft is hijacked by criminals who force him to pull off a prison break. Luis Gerard wrote and will direct the film, marking his feature debut.
A tech heavyweight takes the helm of the BBC. Matt Brittin, former Google EMEA Chief, has been confirmed as Director General, stepping into the most powerful role in British broadcasting. Brittin previously served on the boards of The Guardian and Media Trust.
Leonine Studios’ CEO Fred Kogel extends contract until 2028. Kogel has been the founder and CEO of Leonine Studios since 2019. Under his leadership, the studio had become one of the biggest independent productions in German-speaking Europe.
ON THIS DAY
1958. The Bridge on the River Kwai wins Best Picture.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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