Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
Channing Tatum’s billions, Miramax’s new president, Michael Bay gets musical, Hasbro gets a clue, and Megalopolis finds a maison.
Let’s go!
CHANNING TATUM’S DUMB MONEY
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Channing Tatum is the latest tech-bro billionaire.
He stars as a tech entrepreneur in Zoë Kravitz’s (Catwoman, The Batman) directorial debut, Blink Twice, formerly titled Pussy Island.
In the newly released trailer, his blasé yet manic entitledness exemplifies the trend in recent cinema to paint tech-bro billionaires as blisteringly stupid.
Here’s a short list of stand-outs:
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
- Edward Norton plays billionaire Miles Bron (still)
Described as:
“His grasp of disruption theory is remedial at best…Look into the clear center of this Glass Onion…Miles Bron is an idiot!”
- Succession (2021-2023)
- Alexander Skarsgård plays CEO Lukas Matsson (still)
Character highlights:
Steals from his own company tanking the value, and sends blood bags to his assistant as a means of seduction.
- Don’t Look Up (2021)
- Mark Rylance plays CEO Peter Isherwell (still)
Tagline for Isherwell’s mobile company:
“Life, without the stress of living.”
What makes Kravitz’s Blink Twice stand out is how sharply it’s told from a plebeian’s perspective.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Frida (Naomi Ackie) is a young waitress in Los Angeles who has her eye on tech entrepreneur Slater King (Tatum). When she gets to go to an intimate meeting on his private island. Frida senses there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Kravitz stated:
“This is not a story about empowerment. This is a story about power.”
There’s something about collective memory failure in the trailer that heightens this idea that we’re all hypnotized by capitalistic demigods.
Amazon MGM Studios is distributing the film. In theaters August 23.
For More:
Blink Twice trailer.
Kravitz’s biggest role to date was as Catwoman in the most recent Batman (Robert Pattinson sunrise scene).
The craziest scene in Silicon Valley is when billionaire Peter Gregory, played by the late brilliant Christopher Evan Welch, figures out how to save a dying company through sesame seeds. Scene.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
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Becky Sloviter is the new president of film at Miramax. She has a killer resume:
- Endeavor, Agent Trainee (early career)
- Universal Pictures, Assistant
- You, Me and Dupree (2006)
- Universal Pictures, Associate Producer
- Role Models (2008)
- MGM, VP of Production
- The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
- PEN15 (2019-2020)
- EP
- Palm Springs (2020)
- Producer, PGA
Miramax’s new CEO Jon Glickman, said:
“As an executive and producer, Becky has demonstrated the rare ability to balance taste and commercial sensibilities across an array of genres and budgets… Miramax is fortunate to have her passion, talent relationships and vision to guide the studio’s film division.”
Sloviter said:
“It’s truly an honor to work with Jon and the entire team at Miramax in shaping this new chapter at the studio. I couldn’t be more thrilled to help usher in the next wave of unforgettable cinematic stories for today’s global audience.”
Miramax produced some of the strongest art-house films of the ’90s, from Pulp Fiction (1994), The Cider House Rules (1999), and Shakespeare in Love (1998), it is currently owned by Paramount Global (49%) and beIN (A Quatari-owned global media network).
Hasbro wants to know whodunnit. The charming mystery caper with multiple endings, Clue (1985), is getting the reboot treatment in the rush for Hasbro to throw every franchise at the wall to see if one sticks as well as Barbie did. To do so, Hasbro will partner with Sony to bring the board game back to life. Clue, or Cluedo as it was initially titled, lends itself very well to a narrative of a murder mystery in a mansion where players go along trying to figure out who among them committed the murder.
The original was a fun romp with Tim Curry at the helm, full of fun twists that originally ended with film audiences being shown one of the three endings at random. The DVD contained all three endings.
In a world of non-stop streaming, where the movie business had been deemed “dead,” fun little things like this get more audiences to show up in the theatre; that’s the plan anyway.
Ok chief take em away, I’m gonna home and sleep with my wife.
Tidbit:
Michael Bay and Post Malone. No, it’s not an unreleased track on Taylor Swift’s latest album. The two are working together on a graphic novel, which will concurrently be adapted into a film.
Here’s the official concept:
Set in medieval Europe, where the only thing standing in the way of the horde of demons infesting the continent is a mysterious armored 18-wheeler seemingly sent back from the heavens.
They are partnering with Vault Comics.
Severe injuries have been reported on the set of Eddy Murphy’s new film The Pickup.
From Crew Story:
“Numerous members have reached out to us about an onset accident that happened this past Saturday in Atlanta where five crew members were injured, three severely. One with a broken back, another with a cracked skull, and another that got scalped.”
It appears that an armored vehicle crashed, carrying the 2nd Unit crew who were filming a POV driving shot.
There’s a horrible repetitive nature in the film industry of preventable accidents. The crew always gets the short end of the stick.
Our hearts go out to those injured, and we wish them a speedy recovery.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
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John Malkovich plays a Romanian conductor. He stars in The Yellow Tie, which is heading to the Cannes Market.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Sergiu Celibidache (older: Malkovich, younger: Ben Schnetzer) is one of the most celebrated classical music conductors of the twentieth century. From his childhood in Romania under the draconian authority of a disciplinarian father (Sean Bean) to his painful flight from home to pursue his dream of a career in music, his struggle for survival in wartime Germany, and his rise, fall, and rise again, in an unimaginable career and life path, spanning seven decades and all four corners of the globe.
Here’s a still of Malkovich on set in Romania.
Malkovich’s best performance was not as a conductor but being conducted like a puppet in Being John Malkovich (1999, trailer). He was also excellent in Ripley’s Game (2002) and has a co-starring role in Netflix’s recent hit Ripley (2024).
The Yellow Tie is directed by the conductor’s son, Serge Ioan Celebidachi.
Tidbits:
A couple of casting announcements:
- The Ritual
- Starring Al Pacino as a priest with a troubled past
- Genre: Exorcism horror
- Worldwide rights: XYZ Films
- Neuromancer
- Starring: Callum Turner (Masters Of The Air, Tramps)
- Studio: Apple TV+
FESTIVALS AND RESOURCES
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Industry Standard offers nine-month paid residency programs called to foster diversity and access in post-production. Residencies offer hands-on experience, guidance from expert mentors, and exposure to processes in top post-production positions:
- Archival Producer
- Color
- Design & VFX
- Editorial
- Post Producing
Supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, the program aims to create resilient, inclusive teams ready to shape the future of media, addressing the visibility and accessibility challenges in post-production careers.
Find out more info and apply here.
Deadline: May 17th.
A few Cannes attachments.
- Three Kilometres to the End of the World
- In Competition
- Sales agent Goodfellas (The Boy and the Heron, Jeanne du Barry) acquires international sales rights
Official synopsis:
Set in a conservative Danube Delta community, a gay teenager’s journey of self-discovery clashes with the traditional values upheld by his parents and neighbors.
- To a Land Unkown
- Director’s Fortnight
- Distributor Salaud Morisset acquires international sales rights
Official synopsis:
A Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of society in Athens gets ripped off by a smuggler and sets out to seek revenge.
Tidbit:
Cannes 2024 is opening up an immersive competition comprised of eight VR films. Here’s a teaser trailer. One of those, Evolver (teaser), is produced by Atlas V, who has done excellent VR work, including Gloomy Eyes (starring Colin Farrell).
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
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A film that fuses filmmaking and painting. The potent directorial debut of painter-turned-filmmaker Titus Kaphar, Exhibiting Forgiveness (Sundance 2024 Official Selection), has just been acquired by Roadside Attractions.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a recovering addict desperate to reconcile. Together, they struggle and learn that forgetting might be a greater challenge than forgiving.
The film stars André Holland (Moonlight) in the artist’s role. Kaphar discussed his process of teaching Holland:
“From the beginning of this, I told Andre that I needed him to learn how to paint in order to take this role, and he committed himself to the full process. He came to the studio over three months, and I taught him so that by the time you see him on screen, it feels like he knows what he’s doing because he knows what he’s doing.”
Here’s an incredible first look BTS/teaser for the film, which involves Kaphar walking around a neighborhood with a gargantuan painting tracking behind him.
Exhibiting Forgiveness also stars singer Andra Day (Rise Up) and academy award nominated Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard). Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) is one of the producers.
Exhibiting Forgiveness will be released in the fall.
Tidbit:
Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is acquired by Le Pacte (Distributor: Anatomy of a Fall) for theatrical release in France in September.
If no one in the States has picked it up by then, we’ll raffle off flights to France.
ON THIS DAY
1992. Actor Jack Quaid (The Boys) was born in Los Angeles, California.
See you Thursday.
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Written by Gabriel Miller and Spencer Carter.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
