THE DEAL REUNITES JAMES WAN WITH THE BILLION-DOLLAR HORROR FRANCHISE THAT HE HELPED LAUNCH |
In a deal that will bring James Wan back in touch with the mega horror IP he created, we hear from several sources that Blumhouse is acquiring the perspective rights to Twisted Pictures’ portion of the Saw franchise.
In short, Blumhouse essentially is taking over the IP’s ownership from Twisted’s Mark Burg and Oren Koules. Lionsgate will continue to be involved as a partner and, in fact, owns 50% of the franchise.
Wan directed the first Saw movie in 2004 and co-wrote with Leigh Whannell. Wan remained an EP on remaining Saw movies. >>>Development Update
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Octavia Spencer Returning For Blumhouse’s ‘Ma’ Sequel |
Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
One Chicago, Three New Deals - NBC’s three Chicago series will be back in the fall with their leads intact as Chicago Fire's Taylor Kinney, Miranda Rae Mayo and Dermot Mulroney, Chicago P.D.’s Jason Beghe and Chicago Med's S. Epatha Merkerson and Oliver Platt are all locked in to continue on their shows. >>>21-Episode Seasons
WBD Cuts Hit TV - Deadline understands that Warner Bros. Discovery is set to lay off employees on the cable television side of its business. It is believed to be in the double digits but well under 100 as it looks for more efficiencies. These cuts will largely impact the Discovery side of the company. >>>Profit Down 14% The Unibomber, Manifested - Russell Crowe, Jacob Tremblay, Shailene Woodley and Annabelle Wallis have signed on to star in Unabom, a new thriller on domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski to be directed for Netflix and MRC by Janus Metz (Andor). Inspired by true events, Unabom originated as a spec. >>>Harvard Experiments
AI & Indie Film - Former OpenAI exec Zack Kass, who has advised organizations ranging from The White House to Coca-Cola to Morgan Stanley to help their businesses come to terms with the “transformative potential” of AI, believes there is a huge opportunity for content creators with respect to AI. >>>Q&A
Killer Tomatoes Rise Again - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is alive with a fifth movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, from filmmaker David Ferino. Pic, which stars David Koechner, John Astin and Eric Roberts, is billed as “pitting the eternal power of nature against AI’s best and brightest.” >>>Halloween Release
It Starts On The Page: 'Three Women' - Lisa Taddeo's Starz limited series Three Women, based on her bestselling nonfiction book, delves into the complex world of female desire and sexuality through the true story of three American women. In the intro to her script, Taddeo calls the real woman one character was based on “Desire, personified.” She points to the Princess Bride reference in the film's teen love story. >>> Read The Script
In Brief - Aldis Hodge signs with WME... German celebrs to tackle €1M challenge in local version of The Summit
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In Prime Video’s limited series The Better Sister, Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks are estranged sisters Chloe and Nicky. Here, in the midst of a fun Deadline cover shoot that revealed their real-life closeness, Biel and Banks, who also executive produce, sat down with us for a heart-to-heart about what Chloe and Nicky had brought up for them personally, the impact of portraying addiction and violence and playing out the primal roar of women who will do anything to protect their family. >>>Watch |
Anora Best Actress Oscar winner Mikey Madison is in talks to replace Sydney Sweeney in A24‘s feature take of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death. No deal is done.
Schitt’s Creek alumna Emily Hampshire is set for a key role in Marvel's Vision series for Disney+ opposite Paul Bettany who is reprising his titular MCU character in the WandaVision spinoff. Exclusive Mark Feuerstein (Power) has joined the cast of Courtney A. Kemp and Tani Marole’s new Netflix series, Nemesis, in a recurring role.
In Brief - The Summer I Turned Pretty casts Isabella Briggs, Kristen Connolly & more... Ray McKinnon, Margo Martindale & Donal Logue among guest stars in Prison Break pilot |
Quotable "We tread lightly" - John M. Chu on the intersection between 'Wicked: For Good' and 'The Wizard of Oz' |
by the numbers $30M - Projected domestic opening for 'Ballerina' |
| More News
🎵 An ailing Billy Joel was not in attendance at the world premiere of the HBO documentary about his life and music which opened the Tribeca Festival Wednesday. He did, however, send a message to attendees, via the film's director. "Billy wishes he were here tonight, and he asked us to convey his greetings to you all. He said ‘Getting old sucks, but it’s still preferable to getting cremated,'" relayed Susan Lacy.
🔔 Canadian giant Bell Media‘s 2025/26 slate will include a comedy series from Elliot Page’s production house, new shows from Tom Green and Jared Keeso and a batch of U.S. acquisitions. Also notable is Anna Pigeon, the first Bell Media-Versant co-commission for USA Network. Versant, owner of USA and several other NBCUniversal cable networks, is in the process of spinning off from Comcast.
⛰️ A prolonged FCC review and a battle with President Trump are fueling speculation that the Paramount–Skydance marriage might be heading for the rocks. Analyst Rich Greenfield said he’s “increasingly concerned the deal could collapse as Paramount is paralyzed by legal fears surrounding the pending President Trump-CBS 60 Minutes lawsuit.”
📽️ The Toronto International Film Festival is opening its 50th edition with a look back at one of the Great White North’s own: legendary SCTV comedy superstar John Candy in the Colin Hanks directed, Ryan Reynolds produced new documentary, John Candy: I Like Me.
🎭 Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will make their Broadway debuts next year in Dog Day Afternoon, a new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy) based on the true crime that inspired Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-winning 1975 motion picture starring Al Pacino and John Cazale.
📺 Jesse Armstrong's Mountainhead, the follow up to his HBO hit Succession, debuted Saturday, securing 1.3M viewers to date across linear and streaming, per Warner Bros. Discovery. That makes it the most-watched HBO Original film since the Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney crime drama Bad Education in April 2020.
🎙️ Stephen A. Smith signed with SiriusXM to host two original shows, with his daily sports talk show airing on weekdays and plans for a weekly current events, pop culture and commentary program. Smith, who signed a $100 million, five-year dal with ESPN earlier this year, already is a commentator on that network's First Take. |
| On the Radar
Thu - NBA Finals tip off
Sat - French Open Women's Championship
Sun - Tony Awards; French Open Men's Championship
Mon - Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference
Wed - Snow White drops on Disney+ |
Lady In Red - Sydney Sweeney attends the Echo Valley New York Premiere. |
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