Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
War Lords 2, Babygirl 2.0 and 12 Monkeys masterclass.
Let’s go!
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Disney buys 70% of Fubo.
Sony Pictures EVP of Prod and Dev, Palak Patel, exits and takes a new role as the CCO of Prime Focus Studios (The Garfield Movie).
Sony, following their success with Last of Us, is adapting the Horizon Zero Dawn video game into a movie.
Fox Names Prentiss Fraser as Global TV Distribution Chief. She was previously at Fifth Season.
Fox's free streaming service, Tubi, hits 97 M monthly users.
NBC’s cult series Grimm (2011-2017) that centered on a detective who has been imbued with the power to see monsters, is getting a reboot movie from Peacock.
Max drops a Last of Us Season 2 teaser.
Nicolas Cage may be returning for War Lords 2.
Emilio Echevarría has passed away at 80. He was most widely seen in Die Another Day (2002) as the man James Bond meets for Cuban Cigars.
The screenplays for The Brutalist and Hard Truths are here.
Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Pratt (Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Troy) has died at 77.
A24 is likely reuniting with Babygirl director Halina Reijn for her next film.
UK’s Independent Talent, which reps Daniel Craig is down 48% this year.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Disney buys 70% of Fubo. This partnership will see the combination of Hulu + Live TV with Fubo. This ends Fubo's antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Last August, a federal judge had granted Fubo a preliminary injunction blocking the launch of Disney, Fox, and Waner’s Venu Sports streaming venture.
Acquisition Terms:
$220 M paid to Fubo from Disney, FOX and Warner Bros.
$145 M loan to Fubo from Disney in 2026
$130 M to Fubo if the deal fails to close (regulatory approval etc.)
Net Effect:
6.2 M North American subs (Fubo and Hulu + Live TV)
Fubo to create a new Sports & Broadcasting service, featuring Disney’s premier sports and broadcast networks
Fubo’s CEO stated:
“This agreement allows us to scale effectively, strengthens Fubo’s balance sheet and positions us for positive cash flow.”
FUBO stock surged 250% by market close.
Palak Patel, Sony Pictures EVP of Production and Development is leaving the Culver City lot to take on a new opportunity as Chief Content Officer at Prime Focus Studios. The studio’s most recent production The Garfield Movie which came out earlier this year for Sony Pictures has grossed over $257 M worldwide. Prime Focus Studios was founded to finance and produce films, TV series, and other content at major studios currently in production on projects like Animal Friends and Angry Birds Movie 3.
Patel originally came to Sony back in August 2015 as part of a motion picture group collaboration with his previous employer Joe Roth’s Roth Films where he also acted as EVP of Production. The longtime film exec most notably oversaw the Venom movies at Columbia Pictures which ended up becoming the highest-grossing titles in Sony’s history grossing over $1.8 bn.
Sony has tasted success with Last of Us, more to follow: With HBO's video game turned hit series, SONY is looking at what in its catalog might make a good story. Unsurprisingly, that has led us to a Horizon Zero Dawn movie. For non gamers, Horizon takes place in the far future, where AI and Tech booms and a handful of human disasters have led earth into a kind of prehistoric tech era where nomadic tribes live among what can be simplified as AI robot dinosaurs.
The series has been a flagship for Sony's PlayStation, with both the first game and its sequel achieving rave reviews. The strength of this IP is its massive world-building. The mystery of what exactly happened is doled out slowly over the games but it leads to adventures that take you across all sorts of United States relics long past.
Check out past game trailers:
This blend of sci-fi and caveman is practically begging to be expanded on, and though it will surely be expensive to pull off, the framework is already there for adaptation.
We, the gamers, wait sceptically. Will this monumental swing go the way of Mario and Last of Us?
Fox's free streaming service, Tubi, hits 97 M monthly users. That’s up from 80 M back in July (before it launched in the UK). Tubi also recorded 10 bn viewing hours during 2024.
Tubi offers the world’s largest content library, including over 275K movies and TV episodes, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to Nollywood gems and arthouse cinema.
The CEO, Ajali Sud stated:
“Tubi’s momentum is growing as audiences increasingly value a premium entertainment experience that is also 100% free, fun and reflective of culture.”
With a broad content spectrum appealing to various fandoms and an algorithm designed to personalize viewer preferences, Tubi aims to redefine entertainment consumption. Although they are producing originals (The Thicket starring Peter Dinklage and Juliette Lewis) they have not yet won an Emmy, although they got their first nomination last year for The Chronicles Of Jessica Wu. Hopefully, as they move forward, they invest in quality not quantity.
Fox Names Prentiss Fraser as Global TV Distribution Chief.
Prentiss Fraser, formerly of Fifth Season, has been appointed President of Fox Entertainment Global. Fraser will lead worldwide distribution for Fox, including scripted content, and animation, including recent new shows like Animal Control and Krapopolis.
While at Fifth Season, Fraser acted as an EVP and then President of Television Distribution (Formally Endeavor Content)
Killing Eve (2018-2022) - EVP
Nine Perfect Strangers (2021) -Distribution
Tokyo Vice (2022-2024) - Distribution
Severance (2022-) - Distribution
With a strong resume to back her up it looks like this will be a big step forward for Fraser and Fox.
Once Upon A Time… NBC’s series Grimm (2011-2017) that centered on a detective who has been imbued with the power to see monsters, is getting a reboot movie from Peacock.
The original series trailer is fun and campy and it's easy to see why this developed a big cult following. I like the idea of a person who sees the real monster in people.
Josh Berman (Consulting Producer: The Blacklist, Bones) will write and EP. The original series creators, David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf return as EPs.
Peacock is a burgeoning place for original content, like Eddie Redmayne’s The Day of the Jackal, although as Nikki Glaser quipped at the Emmys not many people are watching.
No word on shoot dates for the currently untitled Grimm film.
Mini Tidbit:
Last of Us Season 2 teaser. Download into your brain stem for 60 seconds. Max premieres in April.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Nic Cage goes back to war: Andrew Niccol's Lord of War was a highly stylized look at lives of private gun runners, given flair and empathy by a stunning narration from Nicolas Cage on top of his game. Cage played Yuri, a businessman of death and destruction, inspired by an amalgamation of real-life arms dealers, the film took a dark, apathetic look at the growing military-industrial complex.
Long has it been rumored that a sequel would someday follow. Bill Skarsgaard seems to be stoking that flame, revealing that he would be taking on the role of Yuri's son in the sequel which appears to be entering production this year.
Skaarsgard praised Niccol's new script, where he claims that the father-son relationship is in competition, with both of these "War Lords" attempting to top the other in the middle of a Middle Eastern conflict. What is there to say that hasn't already been said about Cage? When he's on, he's on; when he's not, he is still giving it 100 percent; either way, this whip-smart satire has earned its sequel.
Trailer for the original here.
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Emilio Echevarría has passed away at 80. Although that name may not ring a bell, he was most widely seen in Die Another Day (2002) as the man James Bond meets for Cuban Cigars.
In that scene Echevarría has a beautiful ability to slow down time and play it even cooler than Pierce Brosnan. He has a relaxed, magnanimous presence that is wildly alluring.
Echevarría also triumphed in the early films of Curon and Innaritu:
Amores Perros (2000)
The Hitman’s wild transformation scene
Y tu mamá también (2001)
Babel (2006)
Echevarría will be deeply missed.
FESTIVALS AND RESOURCES
Read Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold’s The Brutalist screenplay here:
https://theindustry.co/p/prospective-best-screenplay-academy
Corbet directs, and Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, and Guy Pearce star.
Also, read Hard Truths, plus 32 more Oscar-hopeful scripts, at the same link above.
The two scripts not be more different, with the beautifully detailed and ornate writing of The Brutalist and the stark simplicity of Hard Truths.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Pratt has died at 77 confirmed by the British Society of Cinematographers. Pratt has worked extensively with filmmaker Terry Gilliam on cult classics like Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991) and 12 Monkeys (1995).
There’s something iconic about Pratt’s zany framing which he perfected in 12 Monkeys (1995). Check out the scene in which Brad Pitt introduces Bruce Willis to the psych ward. It is a masterclass in how to supercharge one’s setting by aligning us with the feelings of being trapped with beautifully composed canted low angle, wide-lensed framing.
His work behind the camera transcended genre as he helped Tim Burton to create the original look of Batman (1989) and worked as DP on two Harry Potter (the Chamber of Secrets, 2002 and the Goblet of Fire, 2005) films being one of the main forces in bringing the magical wizarding world to life. His legacy will live on in his extensive work.
Also, thanks to whomever was watching Brazil on my flight back to NYC a few days ago, for reminding me how impeccable and dense the framing was throughout.
A24 and Halina Reijn make quite the duo. The Dutch actress-turned-director has been making headlines for her scandalous erotic thriller Babygirl (trailer), starring Nicole Kidman in a twisted love affair with the much younger Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw). While at the Golden Globes, Reijn teased her next project would most likely again be with A24 and focus on “themes of violence and masculinity”. Her English-language feature debut Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), was also with the studio.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Just as expected, we are already seeing the long-term effects of the SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023. Widely known London talent agency, Independent Talent, which represents big British names like:
Daniel Craig
Jodie Comer
Josh O’Connor
Has seen a drastic negative impact by the strikes and lack of performances in 2023.
While there has been an upturn in performances subsequent to the year-end, the agency’s earnings this past year dropped 48% with their pre-tax profit of £4.5M ($5.6M) only half the £9M that was recorded the previous year. Independent Talent has been prepared to sell for the right offer and that talks have been taking place with private equity firms.
ON THIS DAY
2011. The King's Speech is released in the UK.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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