🎬 Horror Overload Incoming

👋 Good morning! When life gives you rowdy moviegoers, make a premium ticket experience: Warner Bros. is pivoting from damage control to fan service with new ‘Block Party Edition’ screenings of 'A Minecraft Movie' inviting audiences to sing, meme, and talk along with the film—just weeks after theaters begged fans to stop turning Chicken Jockey scenes into popcorn-throwing battlegrounds.

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🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Natasha Lyonne Takes on AI

• LA’s Local Comeback Plan

• Europe’s Potential New Super-Producer

• Horror Overload

• Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

CLOSEUP
🤖 If robots are coming, may as well direct ‘em yourself…

Natasha Lyonne is skipping the AI anxiety and jumping straight to the "how can I use this thing?" phase. The ‘Poker Face’ star is set to make her feature directorial debut with ‘Uncanny Valley,’ an AI-focused project that aims to redefine the industry's approach to this divisive technology. Here are the details:

• Lyonne co-wrote the script with ‘The OA’ creator Brit Marling (both will star)

• Tech commentator Jaron Lanier, a noted Silicon Valley skeptic, joins as collaborator

• It's backed by Asteria, Lyonne's new AI studio co-founded with Bryn Mooser

• They're using 'Marey,' an AI model trained only on copyright-cleared data

• The film follows a teen who gets too deep into an AR video game, and will blend live action with AI-generated visuals

What's groundbreaking isn't the film itself, but the whole "humans in charge" approach. By getting a known tech skeptic involved and promising ethically sourced AI, they're trying to create a template for Hollywood to embrace the robots without handing over the keys to the kingdom.

Meanwhile, SAG is working for its own “talent-first” vision…

While Lyonne charts a creative path forward, SAG-AFTRA is simultaneously working on the policy front. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's National Executive Director who helped settle the 2023 actors strike, recently revealed their proactive strategy: they're reaching out to AI startups before problems arise.

"Soon as they hit our radar, we reach out," he explained, not to shut them down but to help "put appropriate plans in place that are talent-respectful." The union's found that many AI developers simply don't understand the potential impact of their technologies on creative careers, so they've decided education beats confrontation.

The bigger picture: Hollywood's relationship with AI is shifting from existential threat to controlled experiment. The industry appears to be forging a middle path—neither blindly embracing AI nor completely rejecting it, but attempting to integrate it with human creativity at the center. Whether these ethical guardrails hold once the technology becomes further embedded in production processes remains an open question.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 European consolidation, LA, and horror overload…

🎬 LA to film industry: "Baby, come back!" The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a measure to make its film permitting process less of a headache. The plan aims to slash fees, offer location discounts, and cut red tape, addressing some of the reasons productions are packing their bags. The motion passed to actual applause in City Hall—a rarity unless someone's giving away free parking. It’s urgent: LA’s seen a steep decline in tentpole film production, and now even commercials and TV projects are slipping away. This local effort joins Governor Newsom's proposal to supersize California's film tax credit to $750M.

🇫🇷 Is that a European super-producer we see forming in our crystal ball? French production giant Banijay wants to buy UK's ITV. The early-stage takeover talks could create a European content powerhouse that might actually challenge Hollywood's dominance. The potential merger would unite the companies behind global hit franchises—with Banijay (maker of ‘MasterChef,’ ‘Big Brother,’ and ‘Survivor’) and ITV Studios (producer of ‘Love Island,’ ‘Fool Me Once,’ and ‘Coronation Street’) combining under one massive content roof. This European content bloc would fundamentally reshape film and TV production across the continent, giving Netflix and Disney+ execs something new to worry about beyond their subscriber counts. For American studios used to calling the shots, a European super-producer with Hollywood-rivaling scale could finally balance the content trade deficit that's been one-way for decades.

🔪 Horror overload hits theaters in 2025. Studios are cramming an unprecedented 29 horror films into theaters this year, nearly doubling 2024's output—Universal alone is planning seven titles. The genre flood is no surprise after horror delivered spectacular ROI last year, with films like ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ generating $83M in net profit and ‘Longlegs’ turning a budget under $10M into $48M profit. This massive increase comes as Sony's gaming adaptation ‘Until Dawn’ opened to a modest $8M domestically, while the Ryan Coogler-helmed ‘Sinners’ stands as the genre's lone breakout hit this year. Industry analysts point out that this crowded slate—which includes revivals of ‘The Conjuring,’ ‘Final Destination,’ and ‘28 Years Later’ (launching a planned trilogy)—could potentially cannibalize the genre's own audience. Horror has traditionally been viewed as a safe investment due to modest budgets and reliable returns, but this strategy echoes the superhero genre's recent challenges with market saturation. The coming year will test whether there's enough audience appetite for this horror feast.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson join Kate and Rooney Mara in Werner Herzog’s ‘Bucking Fastard.’ (more)

• Joseph Kosinski will direct a new ‘Miami Vice’ movie for Universal, with a script by Dan Gilroy. (more)

• Brad Pitt will star in Edward Berger’s ‘The Riders,’ a new A24 film based on Tim Winton’s novel. (more)

• Jessica Alba will star in spy thriller ‘The Mark,’ directed by Justin Chadwick and set to film in Australia this summer. (more)

• Miles Teller will star in Paramount’s Winter Olympics romance ‘Winter Games.’ (more)

• Stunt coordinator Scott Rogers will make his directorial debut with ‘One Second After,’ a survival thriller based on William R. Forstchen’s novel. (more)

• ‘Twinless,’ Dylan O’Brien’s Sundance-winning comedy, will be released in theaters by Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate on September 5. (more)

• New Line has acquired sci-fi thriller spec ‘Cut Outs’ from Isaac Louis García, with BoulderLight Pictures producing. (more)

• Greenwich Entertainment has acquired Sundance drama ‘Omaha,’ starring John Magaro, for a theatrical release. (more)

• Dev Patel will write, direct, and star in period revenge thriller ‘The Peasant’ for Fifth Season and Thunder Road. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Greg Berlanti scored a series order at Amazon for horror drama ‘Stillwater,’ based on the comic. (more)

• Netflix has greenlit four new series as part of its $1B investment in Mexican film and TV production. (more)

• Disney’s Onyx Collective is developing ‘Wisteria Lane,’ a ‘Desperate Housewives’ update from Kerry Washington and Natalie Chaidez. (more)

• ‘Match Game’ is returning to ABC with Martin Short as host. (more)

Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌

• ‘Diarra From Detroit’ is renewed for S2 at BET+. (more)

• ‘North of North’ is renewed for S2 at Netflix. (more)

Executive Moves 👩‍💼👨‍💼

• Guy Danella has been named president of film at ‘XYZ Films.’ (more)

• Liz Gateley has exited Spotify to launch ‘Damsel Media,’ a new company focused on Gen Z women. (more)

Business 🤝

• ‘Cheehoo’ launches to help creators use AI for faster, IP-protected animation. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Netflix is turning ‘Tudum Live’ into a variety show and streaming it on Netflix for the first time on May 31. (more)

• Jeremy Strong, Halle Berry, and Payal Kapadia join Juliette Binoche’s jury for the 2025 ‘Cannes Film Festival.’ (more)

• Alexander Payne will serve as jury president for the 82nd ‘Venice Film Festival.’ (more)

• Stop reading scripts. Start listening to them with Screenplayer. (more)*

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