Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
Ford v Ferrari v Popeye, Paradigm’s growth, Anya Taylor-Joy’s fury, Jeff Goldblum’s God complex, and a Tasmanian cave.
Let’s go!
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
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Disney+ scores a huge win with Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. The movie became the most watched concert film on the streaming platform in just three days of launching:
- 3.5 hr length
- 4.6 M views
- 16.2 M combined hrs watched
Disney paid over $75 M for worldwide streaming rights.
The film, which Swift and her team partnered with theaters to distribute, grossed $262 M at the box office. That puts it at #2 for highest-grossing concert film of all time. It trails the #1 film Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Sony, 2009) by $5 M.
Ever since Disney came under attack from Nelson Peltz, billionaire and Chairmen of Wendy’s, the house of mouse seems to be on a roll.
Paradigm’s growth. CAA’s cuts. Paradigm didn’t cut a single agent during the dual strike last year. In fact, over the past year, they’ve made a number of major hires from UTA and A3 and promoted 14 agents to partners.
They’ve just hired Bill Weinstein, the former CEO of Verve.
Last month, Verve co-founders Bryan Besser and Adam Levine removed Weinstein from his executive duties after 14 years of helming the talent agency with over 1000 clients, including Josh Hartnett, Heather Graham, and Sean Bean.
A settlement has been reached and now Weinstein and fellow Verge agent Devon Schiff will join Paradigm as Lit Agents.
Paradigm Talent Agency Managing Partner Andrew Ruf, said:
“In this business, whether collaborating or going head-to-head, there is no denying the creativity, intelligence, and passion that Bill and Devon bring to their work. This relentless advocacy on behalf of clients is a great fit with the artist-led approach that remains the core value of Paradigm.”
In contrast, CAA has undergone significant layoffs as a result of the strikes. They just laid off 20 agents. Last August, amidst the strikes they laid off 60 agents.
The many lives of Popeye the Sailor Man. The original cartoon is now being re-adapted into a live-action film. No cast or studio attachments yet, but the team is formidable:
- Prod Company: Chernin Entertainment
- Ford v Ferrari (2019)
- Hidden Figures (2016)
- Oblivion (2013)
- Prod Company: King Features
- (King Features was the name of the original comic strip that Popeye appeared in 1929)
- First Popeye short: Pilgrim Popeye (1951, short)
- Writer: Michael Caleo
- Sexy Beast (2024)
- The Sopranos (one episode, 2004)
The previous live-action incarnation of Popeye had an even stronger pedigree:
- Dir: Robert Altman
- Popeye: Robin Williams
- Olive Oil: Shelley Duvall
That film got critically lacerated but still maintains a cult following (trailer). For such a zany adaptation, Robin Williams, is surprisingly stiff. Maybe it was the spinach (deep dive video)?
What’s even weirder: the IP expired temporarily, and Popeye got turned into this terrifying short of Popeye as a drunk.
One tidbit: The Sopranos creator David Chase is set to direct his first feature film in twelve years, a horror for New Line Cinema. He is teaming with The Sopranos writer Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street).
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
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Zach Woods (Silicon Valley, The Office, Avenue 5) signs with Gersh. Known most for his five-season stint as the neurotic and dangerous but upbeat Jared in Silicon Valley, Wood also joined The Office in its later post-Carell years. Drawing on his experience as an improv comedian training at UCB and a member of their elite weekly series ASSCAT, Woods always goes to great lengths to make his characters funny and always takes the unexpected route.
Some examples:
- Silicon Valley (2014–2019)
- The Office (2010–2013)
- Avenue 5 (2020–2022)
- Calming a group of frightened passengers
Here is an old ASSCAT show, where he displays his mastery of long-form.
Rachel Sennott is glorious in Bottoms. Her character starts, by her own definition, as:
“Gay, ugly, untalented.”
She forms a girls-only fight club to win the attention of her high school crush: a cheerleader. She rides through the body of the film with an electric charisma (trailer).
Sennott, who also wrote the film, has just landed a pilot with HBO.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A codependent friend group reunion [where friends] navigate how their time apart, goals, and new relationships have changed them.
Sennott will star, write and co-produce.
She can previously be seen in Shiva Baby.
Two tidbits:
- Jeff Goldblum is God in an upcoming Netflix series, Kaos (teaser trailer).
- Anya Taylor-Joy fights the world. She stars in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a Furiosa origin story. The new trailer just dropped. In theaters May 24th.
FESTIVALS
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The Daniels (dir: Everything Everywhere All at Once) discuss AI at SXSW. But first, they talk about the concept of Ikigai (pictured above).
Here’s the full talk.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
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There’s been a recent trend of filmmakers focusing on stone. Perhaps humanity has become overwhelming (see the SXSW video above).
Recently, A24’s Architecton (Clip 1, Clip 2), which played at the Berlin Film Festival, showcases the most poetic visions of concrete.
Now, the trailer for Apple Cider Vinegar just debuted from director Sofie Benoot. The film begins with the narrator’s discussion of their kidney stone and then branches to focus on other stones.
Benoot is best known for her Berlinale-premiering documentary Victoria (2020), which portrays the California City desert as a wasteland (trailer).
Christy Hall’s directorial debut is Daddio, starring Sean Penn. Penn plays a philosophical cab driver who pulls at his passenger’s (Dakota Johnson) heartstrings. That sounds cheesy, but the honest performances in the trailer make it beautiful.
The film, which Hall also wrote and produced, has been doing quite well:
- Premiere: Telluride
- Official Selection: TIFF
- Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Daddio will open on June 28th.
Hall previously wrote I Am Not Okay with This (TV Series 2020).
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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Jacob Elordi (Elvis in Priscilla) stars in the Australian epic The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The Amazon series has an incredible team behind it. Justin Kurzel, director of Nitram, which garnered Caleb Landry Jones the best acting prize at Cannes, directs.
Here’s the official synopsis from the book, which won the highly lauded Booker Prize (previous winners include The English Patient and Life of Pi):
Dorrigo Evans (Elordi), an Australian doctor haunted by a love affair with his uncle’s wife — journeys from the caves of Tasmanian trappers in the early twentieth century to a crumbling pre-war beachside hotel, from a Thai jungle prison to a Japanese snow festival, from the Changi gallows to a chance meeting of lovers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds.
Here’s a few first-look photos:
- Elordi is battle-ready
- Elordi’s candle-lit date night + martinis
Prime Video will release in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Sony Pictures Television will release in other countries.
Dust To Dreams is a Nigerian short film that is Idris Elba’s first as writer and director.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A mother navigates the challenges of introducing her teenage daughter to her estranged father for the first time, exploring the complexities of their relationship.
The cast includes a handful of Nollywood stars and London musician Seal, whose mother is Nigerian.
This is part of Elba’s partnership with Abudu, a Nigerian media mogul described by Forbes as Africa’s most successful woman, to help emerging talent in Africa by championing African films and TV shows.
ON THIS DAY
We learned that if you were to watch every piece of content on streaming platforms concurrently, it would take 350 years to finish everything.
See you tomorrow!
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Written by: Gabriel Miller and Spencer Carter.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
