Welcome back Studio Coffee Folks! It seems that the entertainment word is rustling itself back to life today. Warner Bros. has finalized a first-look deal with Brad Pitt and his Plan B Entertainment, we’ve got a trailer for Kubrick by Kubrick, a new Netflix teen drama, and a few more acquisition rumblings.
ICYMI:
- The Simpsons is taking its Playdate with Destiny short to Disney+.
- Lion Forge is diving deeper into animation with a new deal.
The Nelson father/son duo preps a spy thriller
Craig T. Nelson and his son Noah Nelson are teaming up with Landmark Studio Group for The Operative, a spy thriller based on Harvey Gomberg’s book, Code Name Stinger. Pixar fans will recognize the elder Nelson as the voice of Mr. Incredible, while Hawaii Five-O and Secrets and Lies fans may be familiar with the younger’s drama writing. The Operative is set as a ten-part series created by the junior and starring the senior as retired intelligence operative John Straw, who steps back into the intel scene to prevent impending attacks on the United States. Gomberg is also set to consult, while Noah Nelson acts as showrunner and EP.
Kubrick by Kubrick is extremely Kubrick
With Tribeca Film Festival is postponed, many films won’t be making their debuts as early as expected. Among those is Kubrick by Kubrick, a new documentary about the 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining director, Stanley Kubrick – a revered creator who was as notorious for his meticulousness as his wariness of media. Directed by Grégory Monro, Kubrick by Kubrick collects several interviews Kubrick participated in with longtime friend and film critic Michel Climent. This doc is the first time ever that this audio was collected. And, after all, who better to discuss Kubrick than himself? Deadline has an exclusive look at the trailer. Check it out, and keep your fingers crossed for Tribeca to return in September.
Warner Bros. clears a space for Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment
Another first-look feature deal sprouts in post-COVID Hollywood as Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment teams with Warner Bros, per Variety. The Oscar-winning label behind The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight is breaking off with Annapurna Pictures, where it had the same deal set up for three years. In the new move, Warner Bros. will take care of Plan B’s global distribution and have exclusive options on all of the label’s film projects. Currently, Plan B is continuing to produce Irresistible from Jon Stewart, Kajillionaire from Focus Features and Minari from Lee Isaac Chung.
IFC snaps up rights to Dave Franco’s directorial debut
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The Rental, the first ever directorial credit for Dave Franco, is now an IFC acquisition, per a Deadline exclusive. The thriller stars Alison Brie, Dan Stevens, Jeremy Allen White and Sheila Vand as a pair of couples out on a weekend getaway in an AirBnB situation. Quickly, though, long kept secrets are let loose, chaos ensues – and then they realize they aren’t the only ones in the house. Franco and Joe Swanberg script, and Mike Demski assisted in story development, while Black Bear Pictures handles finances and production. The Rental will be released on July 24 through IFC Films.
Netflix’s The Half of It is tropey teen romance with a twist
The Half of It is an adorable trailer you need to see this week. What begins looking like an overdone premise turns into a major subversion of what you might expect. Ellie Chu, high schooler and under the table essay writer for hire, is hired to write love letters for a jock named Paul. Over the course of doing so, she not only befriends Paul, but also realizes catches feelings for the same girl. The Half of It is directed by Alice Wu, who previously made Saving Face, a film tackling issues of being a lesbian in the Chinese-American community. It hits Netflix on May 1.
