Warner Bros. Shuffle
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Warner Bros., Orion Pictures, and Mia Wasikowska.
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Warner Bros. shuffles end-of-year release dates.
Ketchup Entertainment is in talks to buy Warner Bros.’s shelved Coyote vs Acme.
Max’s Duster has a hair trigger charm.
We finally get a peek at Disney Animation (Not Pixar)'s Elio.
Lionsgate TV is developing the best-selling novel Here in the Dark into a scripted series.
Hasbro Entertainment is developing a live-action Power Rangers series for Disney+.
How to Have Sex’s Mia McKenna-Bruce is headlining the upcoming four-part drama The Lady.
Mia Wasikowska will star as a librarian in the children’s film FING!
Lena Waithe will help Ellen Burstyn track down a lost pigeon’s owner in Place to Be.
Dane DeHaan (A Place Beyond the Pines) joins Apple TV+’s Neuromancer.
Yamamoto Teruhisa (prod: Drive My Car) is now attached to White Flowers and Fruits.
Penelope, produced by Duplass Brothers Productions, is launching on Sky.
Amazon MGM Orion Pictures + Plan B will produce The Roots Manœuvre by Raine Allen-Miller.
Neon drops a trailer for Together 134 days before the release date.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Warner Bros. shuffles their end-of-year release date calendar, marking the studio’s most ambitious line-up in years. Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the Co-Chairs and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, e.g., the folks that greenlight WB’s entire slate, are placing large bets on original filmmaking.
Here’s what’s shuffled:
The Bride (Sept 2025 → March 2026)
Dir/Wri: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Star: Christian Bale, Jesse Buckley, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, Annette Bening
Reason for 6-month delay: WB took a big gamble on the $100 M musical Frankenstein film, and test scores have been low with executives trying to shape this up. The Industry saw the test screening in November and mostly enjoyed it. The Bride shows a fully committed A-list cast in a faithful retelling of the classic story that is new and experimental.
One Battle After Another (August 8th → Sept 26th, 2025)
Dir/Wri: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Alana Haim
$140 M budget
Reason for delay: Priming it for fall festivals/awards season while giving WB more time to figure out marketing as this budget is massive for PTA, whose top-performing film, There Will Be Blood, earned $76 M worldwide.
Weapons (Jan 11th, 2026 → Aug 8th, 2025)
Dir/Wri: Zach Cregger (Barbarian)
Cast: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner
Reason for 5-month move up: The film is supposed to be extraordinary, with Brolin calling the script “brilliant.”
Also, Flowervale Street moves from March 2026 → Aug 2026. From director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake) starring Ewan McGregor.
Ketchup's Keepers: Not long after once doomed The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie had is theatrical debut ($4 M opening), the Loony Tunes savior Ketchup Entertainment has set its eye on another of WB's leftovers Coyote vs Acme. After Warner Bros. shelved Coyote vs. Acme in 2023 for a $30 M tax write-off, Ketchup is now close to acquiring the film for around $50 M. This marks the latest fallout from Warner Bros.' cost-cutting strategy, which previously led to the cancellations of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt. A round of applause for Ketchup keeping the tunes alive.
Here's the trailer for The Day the Earth Blew Up.
Max’s Duster has a hair trigger charm, a 1970s-set crime thriller co-created by JJ Abrams with LaToya Morgan.
Duster follows the first Black female FBI agent (Rachel Hilson) recruiting a getaway driver (Josh Holloway) to dismantle a crime syndicate. With the newest trailer drop, we get a lot of action, I can't help but think of True Detective mixed with Fargo, mixed with Boogie Nights. It was exciting to see Keith David in the mix, I'd know that voice anywhere.
Car chases, bad wigs, pool hall fights, looks like a wild ride. An interesting take on the buddy cop genre, and a welcome return for Abrams back to TV. Trailer here. Premiering May 15th.
Tidbits:
Development HElio: After multiple delays and a rumored complete story overhaul, we finally get a peek at Disney Animation (Not Pixar)'s Elio. A cute little film about a boy being abducted and then becoming a space ambassador. It's bright, it's colorful, and behind the scenes, it has been through the wringer, delayed twice, first from its original March 1, 2024, release date to June 13, 2025, and then again to June 20, 2025. Did this time in the oven create a diamond? Check out the trailer, by my eye it lacks a bit of polish we have come to expect from Disney's other animated faire.
Elio is out June 20th
Lionsgate Television is putting up theater critic Alexis Soloski’s best-selling novel Here in the Dark to develop into a scripted series. Megan Abbott, the co-creator and show runner of Netflix hit Dare Me (2019), will serve as both EP and writer. The dark suspense novel follows a young theater critic drawn into a dangerous game that blurs the lines between reality and performance.
New Trailers for upcoming films/shows:
Ballerina (Lionsgate)
Release date: June 6th
Locked (Paramount)
Release date: March 21st
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Release Date: April 8th
Final Season
Law & Order: Organized Crime (Peacock)
Release Date: April 17th
Season 5
Power Rangers, SpinCo, and a Harvard professor’s erotica:
https://theindustry.co/p/power-rangers-spinco-harvard
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
A rags-to-riches story that ends in murder!
How to Have Sex’s Mia McKenna-Bruce is headlining the upcoming four-part drama, The Lady, from The Crown producer Left Bank Pictures for BritBox. McKenna-Bruce will take on Jane Andrews, a former royal aide who ends up being convicted of murder.
Official Synopsis:
Royal dresser Jane Andrews rose from humble beginnings to palace circles before a murder conviction ended her fairy tale. The high-profile trial drew a media frenzy. She left prison in 2019.
The lead role in The Lady is perhaps the biggest part thus far in McKenna-Bruce’s flourishing career shortly following her win at the BAFTA’s in the competitive rising star category (clip) last year. Compared to her previous work, this is seemingly a very mature role that could show a new side to the actress in a dramatic period piece far different from the modern-day wild child she has been known to portray.
Joining the upcoming royal family series is Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) and Ed Speelers (Downton Abbey).
The Lady will be distributed by Sony Picture Television internationally later this year.
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Tidbit:
Mia Wasikowska will star as a librarian in FING!. The family fantasy film is based on David Walliams’ bestselling book. The story follows Mr. and Mrs. Meek (Blake Harrison + Wasikowska) on a quest to find a “Fing” creature for their demanding daughter, Myrtle. Fing! It seems like it's got that quirky energy in which Wasikowska excels. Production will begin this year in Australia and the UK.
Patricia Arquette just found herself a sister in J. Smith Cameron. The Succession alum joins the upcoming untitled Hulu series following the infamous Murdaugh family murders. Cameron will play Maggie Murdaugh’s (Arquette) older sister, Marian Proctor. In addition to Cameron’s four-season run as the badass Gerri in HBO’s award-sweeping series Succession, her previous TV credits include Hacks, the long-running True Blood, and HBO’s Divorce (2016-18).
Lena Waithe will help Ellen Burstyn track down a lost pigeon’s owner in in Place to Be. Coming from director Kornél Mundruczó (White God). The film follows an elderly woman (Burstyn) and middle-aged man (Taika Waititi) as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon home. The role is ultra non-descript but Waithe is a master of letting low-key roles retain mountains of power like her enthralling journey in the final season of Masters of None (trailer). Place to Be is currently shooting in Sydney.
Netflix’s Legends, Ken Jeong’s help and a new castmember for Apple TV+’s Neuromancer:
https://theindustry.co/p/dehaan-jeong-legends
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Oscar-winning Drive My Car (2021) producer Yamamoto Teruhisa is now attached to White Flowers and Fruits, a Japanese language drama and the first feature from director Sakamoto Yukari. Drawing inspiration from Japanese folklore, particularly the concept of souls returning as floating, flame-like spirits, the film will follow the aftermath of a suicide at a Christian girls’ boarding school.
Night Edge Pictures is producing the Thai horror sci-fi film There’s Something Wrong With the TV, it follows a teen and his father who uncover a haunted TV trapping children. Debuting at Hong Kong FilMart, then it's set for a Q1 2026 release.
After a year on Netflix, coming-of-age drama Penelope, produced by Duplass Brothers Productions, is launching on Sky and NOW in the U.K. and Ireland. Created by Duplass and Mel Eslyn, the series follows a teen’s journey into the wilderness for self-discovery.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT / FESTIVALS
Amazon MGM Orion Pictures continues to champion indie black filmmakers (Nickel Boys, American Fiction). Their newest is The Roots Manœuvre by Raine Allen-Miller (dir: BAFTA breakout Rye Lane).
Here’s the synopsis:
A woman orchestrates a heist to retrieve a stolen artifact while using a high-end wedding she's organizing as her cover.
Allen-Miller made South London look vibrant in her first feature, Rye Land (trailer). There is a dash of Wes Anderson but really a great love for her odd-ballish characters stumbling along together to mend their broken hearts.
Plan B (Nickel Boys) is producing The Roots Manœuvre. No word on production dates.
Lovebirds Alison Brie and Dave Franco are fusing Together. That’s not an exaggeration. In Neon’s freshly acquired ($17 M) Sundance body horror hit Together, Franco and Brie literally begin to fuse bodies.
Here’s the synopsis:
A couple's move to the countryside triggers a supernatural incident that drastically alters their relationship, existence, and physical form.
Together (trailer) hails from first-time feature director Michael Shanks. If you want a taste of his style check out the mini-series Lambs of God (2019), starring Emmy-Winner Ann Dowd (Hereditary). It is a terrifying tale of three witches declawing all that is modern in the world. Watch the fairly intense trailer.
Together releases on August 1st.
Tidbits:
Grant Rosenmeyer, Sean San José, Nora Dunn star in Behind the Eight-Ball, Nathan Israileff’s feature directorial debut. Inspired by Israileff’s personal experiences, the drama follows a high-functioning cocaine addict confronting his spiraling life. The film is currently shooting in Chicago.
Shudder has acquired The Surrender, Julia Max’s (Pieces of Me) supernatural horror film, following its SXSW premiere. Starring Colby Minifie and Kate Burton, the film follows a resurrection gone wrong, blending body horror and the supernatural. Releasing May 23.
Lizzy Caplan, John Stamos, and Danny DeVito are set to star in the upcoming comedy Drag Me Out, directed by Chris McKay. The film follows two rival drag performers who must team up for a national competition. Production is scheduled to begin this summer.
A little canary has told us that the Cannes 2025 official selection announcements will be made on April 10th.
ON THIS DAY
1952. 24th Academy Awards: An American in Paris wins Best Picture.
See you Friday!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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