👋 Good morning! UK microdrama app Tattle TV is capitalizing on the vertical video craze with an unlikely source: Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 silent film 'The Lodger.' The platform is offering the movie in mini-episodes, using AI to reframe the footage and crop whole characters out so viewers can focus on the two leads. They also swapped the original score for modern thriller music. Tattle calls it "one of the first known instances of a classic feature film being fully reframed for vertical, mobile-first consumption." The film entered the public domain in 2023, so anyone can remix it however they like.
Welcome back to The Dailies. It's Wednesday, you're halfway there. Industry folks are trickling back from Park City and we've got the Sundance updates, plus BAFTA noms and more. Let’s get into it. 👇
CLOSEUP
🌄 Sundance’s deal market is heating up…
Edward Norton, Olivia Wilde, and Seth Rogen at 'The Invite' premiere, Sundance 2026. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
After a sluggish start, the 2026 Sundance Film Festival is finally seeing some movement. Buyers were cautious through the first few days, but the checkbooks are coming out now that everyone's packing for the airport.
NEON closed on 'Leviticus': The indie label behind 'Parasite' and 'Anora' acquired worldwide rights to the queer horror pic 'Leviticus,' the festival's first official deal. The film follows two teenage boys escaping a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most: each other.
Seven-figure deal; written and directed by Adrian Chiarella (his feature debut)
Stars Joe Bird ('Talk to Me') and Mia Wasikowska
Currently 100% fresh on RT 🍅
A24 won ‘The Invite': Olivia Wilde's raunchy dinner-party comedy drew a stampede of suitors after its Saturday premiere, with A24, Netflix, Apple, Searchlight, NEON, Black Bear, Focus Features, and Warner Bros.' new specialty label all circling. After a multi-day bidding war, A24 took the prize in a competitive eight-figure deal.
Stars Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz
Written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack
Annapurna producing; UTA repping sales
90% fresh on RT 🍅
Looking ahead… 'Josephine' and 'Wicker' are also drawing buyer interest. The final days of Utah's swan song could still deliver surprises.
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AWARDS SEASON
🏆 BAFTA and WGA noms dropped yesterday…
The BAFTA Film Awards nominations arrived from London early yesterday, with the Writers Guild following a few hours later stateside. Here's how BAFTA shook out:
Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' leads with 14 nods, narrowly topping Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' at 13. That's a tighter margin than the Oscars, where 'Sinners' pulled ahead with a record 16.
'Hamnet' and 'Marty Supreme' landed 11 each.
Michael B. Jordan earned his first BAFTA nomination for 'Sinners,' while Paul Mescal picked up a Supporting Actor nod for 'Hamnet' after being snubbed by the Academy last week.
'Wicked: For Good' continued its rough awards run with just two craft nominations and zero acting recognition.
See the full list here.
Over at the WGA, the screenplay races look familiar. Original Screenplay nominees include 'Sinners,' 'Marty Supreme,' 'Weapons,' and 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.' Adapted Screenplay features 'One Battle After Another,' 'Hamnet,' 'Bugonia,' 'Frankenstein,' and 'Train Dreams.' On the TV side, 'Pluribus' led with four nominations, while 'The Pitt' and 'The Studio' grabbed three each.
Worth noting: the WGA only considers scripts written under guild contracts, which left three Oscar Original Screenplay nominees ('Blue Moon,' 'It Was Just an Accident,' 'Sentimental Value') ineligible. That's why WGA noms are better at validating frontrunners than predicting upsets.
Looking ahead… The BAFTA ceremony is February 22, WGA is March 8, and the Oscars are March 15.
ICYMI
⚡️ Quick hits…
YouTuber Dhar Mann at YouTube BrandCast 2025 (John Nacion/Getty Images)
📱 Fox is teaming up with Dhar Mann, the YouTube creator known for his viral morality tales, on 40 vertical microdramas for its Holywater platform. Mann brings 163M followers to the table and will keep creative control. It's the latest example of legacy media racing to cash in on the microdrama boom.
📺 Amazon MGM TV chief Peter Friedlander is reorganizing the studio around genre-based teams, bringing it in line with how Netflix and most major studios operate. The goal, per Friedlander: to move faster and make sharper creative decisions. Netflix vet Blair Fetter joins to lead worldbuilding and genre.
⛓️ Netflix announced a strategic partnership with Mappa, the anime studio behind 'Chainsaw Man' and 'Jujutsu Kaisen.' The deal comes as anime continues its box office tear, with Mappa's 'Chainsaw Man' movie grossing $160M worldwide last fall. Several projects are already in the works.
⚖️ Meta, Google and ByteDance head to trial this week in a landmark lawsuit claiming their platforms were designed to addict children. The LA case centers on a woman who says she joined YouTube at 8, Instagram at 9 and TikTok at 10, and suffered depression and anxiety as a result. Snap and TikTok have already settled.
LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Imagine Entertainment is developing a film adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ WWI novel ‘Angel Down,’ with the author set to write the screenplay. (more)
Zoey Deutch will star as U.S. Women’s soccer exec Marla Messing in Netflix sports drama ‘The 99’ers,’ directed by Nicole Kassell. (more)
Netflix has added Sally Hawkins, Victor Garber, and others to its live-action ‘Eloise,’ starring Ryan Reynolds. (more)
A24 has added Julianne Nicholson and Coco Greenstone to Brad Pitt-led drama ‘The Riders,’ directed by Edward Berger. (more)
Lionsgate is moving ahead with a sequel to ‘Dirty Dancing,’ with Jennifer Grey returning. (more)
The Gotham Group has picked up the screen rights to Air Mail article ‘Tommy Supreme and the Blitz,’ for a feature adaptation. (more)
Concourse Media is launching EFM sales on heist thriller ‘The Smack,’ starring Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, and Marisa Tomei. (more)
Justine Triet has set her English-language debut with thriller ‘Fonda,’ starring Mia Goth and Andrew Scott. (more)
The Giorgio Armani biopic ‘Armani — The King of Fashion,’ has set Oscar winner Bobby Moresco to direct. (more)
A24 has cast Odessa A’zion opposite Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey in Sean Durkin’s 2000s-set romance ‘Deep Cuts.’ (more)
TV Development 📺
Paramount+ has ordered a three-part docuseries, ‘The Real Wolf of Wall Street,’ promising a darker, deeper look at Jordan Belfort’s rise and fall. (more)
Apple TV has added Richard Gere to its limited series ‘The Off Weeks,’ starring Jessica Chastain and Ben Stiller. (more)
Antonio Banderas has joined Rosario Dawson, Scott Eastwood, and Susan Sarandon in supernatural thriller ‘Unmerciful Good Fortune.’ (more)
Brendan Foley is penning a TV adaptation of geopolitical thriller ‘Operation: Arctic Fox,’ following the success of ‘Sherlock & Daughter.’ (more)
Netflix has cast Regina Hall opposite Adam Driver in hostage thriller series ‘Rabbit, Rabbit.’ (more)
Business 🤝
Other News 🚨
Roadside Attractions will theatrically release the 2026 Oscar-nominated short films on Feb. 20, with the program presented by Taika Waititi. (more)
Donald Trump again floated tariffs on foreign-made films, while proposing low-interest bonds to boost Hollywood. (more)
UK politicians and former policymakers are calling for a regulatory review of Netflix’s proposed $83B Warner Bros. deal. (more)
Forget 10k steps - this viral walking routine is what you should actually do. (more)*
*sponsored
VIDEO VILLAGE
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MARTINI SHOT
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-The Dailies Team