Happy Friday, folks!

Last night, I saw Is God Is, the new revenge movie from Aleshea Harris, who has announced herself as an especially promising filmmaker to watch. Kara Young and Mallori Johnson are excellent as the film’s two leads — twin sisters who were badly burned in a fire that nearly killed their mother, and are on a mission to kill the man responsible — their abusive father.

Sterling K. Brown plays dear old Dad, and he’s absolutely terrifying. Seriously, this is a chilling performance that’s every bit as evil as Leonardo DiCaprio’s turn in Django Unchained, if far less theatrical.

I know everyone is checking out Obsession this weekend, myself included, or they’re seeing the new Guy Ritchie movie starring Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal, but try and make some time for Is God Is, which is worth a look, even if the stomach-churning domestic violence may make you want to look away.

But hey, you’re not reading this newsletter to hear about the movie I saw last night. You want to know about my Wednesday night, which I spent dining next to Britney Spears.

Maybe you’ve already seen me on TMZ Live, Entertainment Tonight, or Inside Edition, but I still haven’t seen how any of those news segments turned out, or what info made the cut. I just saw how the news was packaged, which I’m not sure I loved.

So now, it’s my turn to package the news and tell you the wild story first-hand… if you’re a premium subscriber, of course! Everyone else will have to stop reading here.

Without further ado, here’s the straight tea about my night with Britney — bitch.

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Happy Wednesday, folks!

In recent days, I’ve watched a pair of documentaries about Lorne Michaels and Martin Short, and while I enjoyed both, I found Lawrence Kasdan’s Netflix doc, Marty, Life Is Short, to be far superior to Morgan Neville’s Lorne, which inexplicably received a theatrical release when it probably should’ve debuted on Peacock.

There’s even a brief but revealing shot of Lorne in the Martin Short doc that’s almost more personal than anything in Neville’s doc, which could’ve dug a bit deeper… if its subject actually wanted to open up about his personal life. Whereas the Short family opens up, Lorne’s family is largely kept off-camera, to the detriment of the film.

Speaking of Hollywood legends, I caught up with Dustin Hoffman’s new heist movie Tuner on Monday night as part of AMC’s Screen Unseen series, and I liked it, but I didn’t love it. For starters, Hoffman isn’t in the movie enough, and when he is in the movie, he’s bedridden for most of the running time.

The lead is English actor Leo Woodall, who reminds me of a young Michael Pitt. He’s talented, and this is a solid performance that impressed me. I just felt like the script leaves Woodall stranded, as his character is far too passive, to the point where he’s kind of boring. Believe me, the movie comes to life every second that the menacing Israeli actor Lior Raz is onscreen.

Director Daniel Roher is certainly worth keeping an eye on, and I’m curious to see what he does next, but with a 108-minute running time, give or take, I’m afraid that Tuner drags, and there’s far too much time spent on Havana Rose Liu’s piano playing.

The film needed to be a little bit edgier to have the impact of, say, Emily the Criminal, but it’s too mild to leave a truly lasting impression. I give it 2.5 stars out of 4, as I think it could’ve been better — a frustrating feeling.

Tonight, I have a fascinating interview with Adi Shankar, the creator of the Devil May Cry series on Netflix, who is also responsible for the Castlevania series and the Bootleg Universe featuring Power/Rangers and Mr. Rogers: A War Hero, among other viral shorts.

As with all interviews here at The InSneider, this one is free to read — no paywall tonight. But if you like what I’m doing here, feel free to do the right thing and subscribe for a month or two. Thanks in advance! And now, on with the show…

Adi Shankar on S2 of Devil May Cry, His Beef With Joe Russo, and Why Hollywood Should Vote for Spencer Pratt

Adi Shankar is an original thinker in a town where original thinking is in short supply.

The anime series Devil May Cry returned to Netflix this week for its second season, which critics are liking even more than the first, and I was lucky enough to spend roughly an hour chatting with the show’s creator/showrunner, Adi Shankar, about the hot topics being discussed in Hollywood.

Devil May Cry is based on the popular Capcom video game of the same name, and it follows a demon hunter named Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch) as he attempts to foil a demonic invasion of Earth orchestrated by the White Rabbit (Hoon Lee), a demon-obsessed terrorist who seeks revenge on the human race, all while being hunted by human soldier Mary Ann Arkham (Scout Taylor-Compton), who works for the government organization DARKCOM, aka Dark Realm Command.

The first season of Devil May Cry premiered in April 2025, and the show was quickly renewed for a second season, for which Shankar was given more resources — in large part due to the growing popularity of anime around the world.

I’ve known Shankar since my early reporting days at Variety, back when he made a name for himself as the executive producer of films such as Dredd, The Grey, Lone Survivor, and Killing Them Softly.

While I won’t pretend to have watched Devil May Cry, which I made Adi fully aware of before our interview, I wanted to chat with him because he’s an original thinker in a town where original thinking is in short supply.

He’s one of the smartest guys I know, and even though we don’t agree on everything, I have to give him credit for being a straight shooter, as there aren’t many of those in this business.

In any case, I knew Adi would be a fascinating interview, and he didn’t disappoint, especially once he got comfortable.

Below, submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, is my full interview with Shankar, which has been edited only for clarity. Buckle up, especially if your last name is Russo…

How are you doing, man?

Adi Shankar: I’m good. I'm also a little nauseous. I don't know why. I think I'm nervous to talk to you, Jeff.

You shouldn’t be. We go way back. 

Shankar: We go way fucking back. It's crazy. We go so far back that Netflix barely existed then. 

Exactly. That said, forgive me, but I don't watch Devil May Cry, so tell me… why should I watch the show, and what can fans expect from Season 2? 

Shankar: I think you’d like it because it’s very much an auteur-driven, dark fantasy epic that has real authorship. It's the opposite of art-by-committee, by which I mean, the committee-driven, committee-approved, sanitized content that we often get.

Okay, I can dig that. So what can fans of the show expect from Season 2 of Devil May Cry? What are some of the big developments they should keep an eye out for? 

Shankar: It’s hard to explain it if you haven't watched the show…

Well, there will be people who read this because they do watch the show and they’re eager to dive into Season 2. Ideally, that's who we're getting to subscribe — fans of you and the show.

Shankar: This is true. Well, in that case, I think there's just more this time around. I was given more resources, more run time, and obviously, I put that all on the screen — both in terms of visual storytelling, but also in terms of the music. I produce all the music and the show’s soundtrack, and it's a real symphony. Season 1 was a symphony, too, but Season 2 is a symphony that was able to take bigger swings because of the success of Season 1, if that makes sense.

It seems like Season 2 is getting even better reviews than the first season. I'm curious what you think it is that critics are responding to this season.

Shankar: In Season 1, I was leaning into plot, and in Season 2, I'm leaning more into emotion, and I think that makes it more surprising.

Can you tell me about the show's origins, particularly in dealing with Capcom? I know some of these video game companies can be very precious about their IP, so was it you who approached them, or did they approach you after seeing what you'd done with Castlevania? 

Shankar: I can break that down for you. So, we had a meeting years ago, and I happened to be dressed like a character from Devil May Cry, because if you recall, that's how I used to dress. I’m from Hong Kong, and I used to dress very flamboyantly.

So, we were talking about several of their properties, and they were like, ‘Hey, we're very interested in working with you. We like what you do.’ 

The conversation was driven by the series of fan films I made that were unauthorized creative reimaginings and reinterpretations of popular IP. And what happened was that the rights holders, especially in the gaming space, thought these fan films were really cool. 

So, I start all of these conversations with the understanding that I’m looking to creatively reinterpret stuff, just to address this notion of preciousness that you brought up.

Yes, they're very precious, usually, but even if you look at my last show, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix, I did that in partnership with Ubisoft. It's basically my shared universe with Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Far Cry, Rayman, and the Raving Rabbids. Prince of Persia’s even in there. Basically, all of Ubisoft’s IP is in there, and I flipped it on its head. 

Like, Rayman is the company's mascot, and I made him a cokehead propaganda artist of a fascist empire that is secretly the villains from Assassin's Creed. All of this was approved by the CEO of Ubisoft, right? And one of the brothers who runs Ubisoft went to every meeting with me to explain to the networks that, ‘Yes, we’re allowing him to do this.’ They normally enter these conversations very precious [about the IP], but with me, they’re actually interested in seeing my spin on it. 

Yeah, you've got some street cred at this point. 

Shankar: I've got street cred, and the street cred is, ‘Adi will creatively reinterpret the thing in an imaginative way.’ I honestly think if I just went in and tried to play it straight, people would be a little confused and shocked at this point.

So, back to Capcom, they actually recommended the property. They were like, ‘Just based on how you're dressed, are you a fan of Devil May Cry?’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah!’

They said, ‘Well, we would love for you to do Devil May Cry,’ and they were hinting that a new game was coming out, but I’m a little thick, so I didn't pick up on those hints.

But we made the deal — I made the deal directly with Capcom, and then brought in Netflix after I developed all of the material for Season 1. The meeting I’m talking about happened in 2017, and then I closed the deal in 2018.

I announced it on IGN in October or November of that year. I wore a bunch of face paint, and I cut a WWE-style promo on IGN, because, as you know, I have a flair for theatrics.

You're a showman. 

Shankar: I'm a showman, yes. I've got this inner Sacha Baron Cohen running around in me.

Well, between your show and the Resident Evil and Street Fighter movies, it certainly seems like a big year for Capcom. 

Shankar: Yeah, it’s a massive year for Capcom. They've got a really cool team over there. 

Obviously, it's a big company. They’re a big gaming corporation in Japan, and they've been around for decades and decades, so their IP roster runs super deep. 

I think there’s a lot of comfort there, and a lot of love, because I’m familiar with not just their greatest hits, but also their deep cuts, so I really respect the IP. At the end of the day, I respect any IP I work on, including Power Rangers. I did Power/Rangers because I was a fan, you know what I mean? 

I remember being a big fan of Capcom’s Mega Man games. Those were my jam.

Shankar: There's a Mega Man easter egg in Season 1, Episode 3 of Devil May Cry. Mega Man is literally in it.

Shankar believes his experience producing movies helped prepare him to be a TV showrunner.

I saw that you're a co-writer on six of the eight episodes this season, so I'm curious, when you first entered this business, did you fancy yourself a writer? How did you work on that skill and improve on that front? 

Shankar: That's a great question. The truth is that no, I didn’t — I was just trying to find a slot, and I didn't really care what the slot was. But I would always write treatments and pitches and whatnot. I just got more involved in the writing process as time went on. That probably started 10 or 11 years ago.

I consider Alex Larsen my writing partner. He wrote Season 1 of Devil May Cry, and we co-wrote Season 2. He also worked on Captain Laserhawk.

I guess you’re asking me if I consider myself a writer, and I suppose I consider myself a generalist who can conduct any part of the process now, having been doing this at a fairly high level for 15 years.

For example, my history as a producer really helped keep costs down on Devil May Cry. And sure, Netflix is footing the bill, but I want to make this cost-effective for them, and profitable for them, so that there gets to be more of this, and other people get the opportunity.

As far as the showmanship stuff goes, I feel like I've gotten better at that and reined that in more, but the truth is that it helps on the marketing side of things.

But I definitely think I got better at writing as time went on. I think it went from being a thing that I do to something that I'm very, very good at now. Not to sound super cocky. I mean, I'm not Jeff Sneider or anything…

Shut the fuck up. Are you in the WGA?

Shankar: No. But I’ve been thinking about the writer thing a lot lately, because it’s not just my writing that’s driving the show. This anime series requires me to wear so many different hats. 

As the showrunner, I’m dealing with action-based shot design and shot selection, and my company, Adi Shankar Animation, will re-edit certain shots and send the animatics back. 

So, as a showrunner in anime, you have to conduct a bigger orchestra. There’s plenty of other stuff to keep in mind besides the writing.

I know anime's been performing really well in movie theaters lately. Have there been any conversations about doing anything with Devil May Cry on the big screen? 

Shankar: No. Or rather, not that I can reveal without [the plug] getting pulled as punishment for revealing something that I… shouldn't be revealing. 

But if the question is, ‘Do I think it could work?’ Yes, I do, because the audience is hyper-engaged. And I think part of the reason that anime is eating Hollywood’s lunch is that anime believes in authorship. It's an auteur-driven industry. It's driven by IP, yeah, like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, One Piece, and so on. So it is IP, but auteurs run all of that IP, right? 

Anime is made by obsessed people. And that obsession then translates to the fans being obsessed, right? So when you look at, like, why are people showing up to theaters for this? Well, because they're obsessed. And they're going to put their phone down and go through the friction of making it to a movie theater because of that obsession.

Is there any AI involved in the making of Devil May Cry? 

Shankar: No. 

Where do you stand on AI? Is it a tool for good or a tool for evil, or does it just depend on who's using it and for what purpose? 

Shankar: The conversations around it are very funny to me. Because people are either naively utopian, hysterically apocalyptic, or, like, so obviously, blatantly self-interested.

I don't think AI exists yet. We're calling a pattern recognition tool artificial intelligence, but it's not The Terminator, you know? I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet…

And full disclosure, I have an AI company that I co-founded with the head of AI at Dartmouth. And the company is designed to protect artists.

Well, that’s a good thing.

Shankar: Yeah. I don’t think AI is all good or all bad. Artists need a way to fight back against infringement, right? Infringement is infringement. It's not like, ‘Oh, AI is doing it.’ It’s the AI companies that are infringing, and that’s not an AI thing — that's a corporate overreach thing.

And look, I know it's ironic that it's me saying this when I basically started my creative career as a dude bootlegging IP. 

In a way, I think that makes your criticism even more notable.

Shankar: Sure, absolutely.

Adi Shankar has a vision — the trick is getting rights holders to buy into it.

The Cannes Film Festival gets underway this week, and there's been a lot of talk this year about how Hollywood in general is kind of sitting out the festival, which doesn’t have a lot of Hollywood offerings. Sundance is moving from Utah to Colorado. What do you think is the single biggest problem plaguing film festivals these days? 

Shankar: I think this is just kind of a general problem, not necessarily a film festival problem, but I think the era of the brand manager is ending. Today’s audiences can smell committee-built entertainment now. And there are so many other offerings now, so why would someone engage with something that is run by a brand manager? 

We've both been in the business for a long time, right? My perception of how it works is that during every period or era of Hollywood, the business basically congregates around a certain individual or a certain group of individuals, and says, ‘These will be our stars. This is who the system is going to get behind this go-round.’ Right? And then that person magically turns into a movie star or an A-list director or some visionary auteur or something. But that's how we mint stars in this town, right? Would you agree with that? 

Sure…. 

Shankar: Okay. But then they’re left in the hands of the world's most generic man, Joe Russo [of the Russo brothers], who makes premium mediocre content with a capital fucking C. That’s who was minted by the town and given resources. Joe Russo makes premium mediocre content with a capital fucking C, and that's the problem.

What do you see happening in this industry that makes you go, I wish I'd thought of that? And what do you see happening that just needs to end? 

Shankar: Jesus, that's a great question. Well, first of all, I think in this premium mediocre business model, where billions of dollars were pulled out of the system, creative decision-making just became risk management. And the broader filmmaking ecosystem pays the price because everything that is being produced is an expensive pastiche with zero soul.

That needs to end, but it's already ending, or ended, right? We're kind of in the echo of that right now. But I think that plug just needs to get pulled. I'm not trying to be mean here, but I think my issue here is when I drive around L.A., and I see all these people without a job or without a role, and I see the industry is suffering, it's like, ‘Okay, part of the suffering is because you have individuals who are literally raising billions of dollars to produce shit.’

There's a lot of damage that gets left behind in its wake, and those individuals don't suffer because they get to flex and do whatever the hell it is that they do. It's the next generation and the generation after that suffer, right? 

The massive contraction is a response to the individuals who were given the baton and told, ‘Hey, we believe in you. Go hit a fucking home run.’ And instead they sat at home and put the money in their pocket. 

We're seeing the fallout hit now, and where it always hits hardest is the creative middle class. The working people who built this business start losing their fucking homes, and that's not cool.

So yeah, the string of $200 million committee-written, committee-directed slop projects was a problem, and now, the problem is that we’re living in the aftershock of that, and it’s fucked up. Just look at all the people now who won't get opportunities because of that [greed]. 

But maybe I'm just jealous. Maybe I'm mad that I didn't get on that gravy train. I should’ve made a deal with AGBO and gotten on that fucking gravy train and tried to make a Pac-Man Cinematic Universe, only to lose the rights to fucking Justin Baldoni. Which is dark, man. 

Adi Shankar thinks Spencer Pratt has what it takes to be Mayor. Agree to disagree, I say!

I don’t know how much time you spend in L.A. these days or if you’re paying attention to the Mayoral election, but is there a candidate you feel would be best for the industry? 

Shankar: For the industry? Spencer Pratt, no doubt about it. Because he's from the industry.

That is true, technically.

Shankar: Literally, I don't see any other candidates being from the industry. He's from a different version of the industry, right? One where the industry was... a thriving ecosystem with various types of productions being made on various scales. But he's very much from the industry.

I don't think the current mayor knows very much about how our industry operates, or operated, and could operate again in the future, if we're in alignment. And that's not a knock against anyone. It's just that our business has a very specific history, and it has very specific cycles. 

Have you personally found it difficult to shoot in Los Angeles? 

Shankar: Well, yeah. So, I basically have only done anime, with the rare exception of a couple of things. I've only done anime, and for that, we've essentially developed a global pipeline, right? So, in a lot of ways, you could argue that I'm part of the problem of production leaving. It’s because of the global pipeline that's been created. 

But back in the day, I remember it being hard to shoot in L.A. and there being a lot of roadblocks and difficulties. L.A. is a rough place infrastructurally, right? Like, I live in Dubai some of the time, and that’s where you start to see how much L.A. has fallen.

I think there are a lot of people who really love LA, so they don't want to admit that it's fallen. But they also haven't really left the United States to see how other places have progressed so quickly. I don't want to say L.A. has turned into a third-world city because that's not accurate, but it feels very much like a city on the decline. But I feel like that can be course corrected, because even if you take the weather out of the equation, it’s such a beautiful place and there's so much history here. But step one is admitting that there's a problem, which I think is now happening. 

There’s just a lot of red tape in L.A. Or at least, I remember there being a lot of red tape. Which I know is part of the process, and that process — that red tape — gets romanticized. Like, ‘Oh, we had to negotiate for a permit to shoot here, and it took forever, but we pulled it off.’ And hey, that’s great. That’s part of the learning process. But if you're the city of L.A. and you’re creating more friction, you’re creating the marketplace for people to go elsewhere. The business has become so global, just in the last 10 years alone, right? 

It's funny, there’s this whole narrative about the Streaming Wars, which is surely a term you’ve heard of. But what was the war, exactly? I don’t understand. It was more like a streaming curbstomp, or a streaming bitch slap. A war implies some back and forth. All I saw was Netflix decisively winning, largely because it understood the world as it actually is. The other studios were programming for Brentwood. To them, the center of gravity was Brentwood.

And it felt like Netflix understood that there's a whole planet out there, and that’s where the center of gravity has shifted, because we’re now interconnected in such a way. And that's kind of a microcosm of what's been happening to L.A. in a lot of places.

Speaking of your close creative relationship with Netflix, is it fair to say you were rooting for them to buy Warner Bros. so they could have access to more IP? What are your thoughts on the Paramount merger and all that kind of stuff? 

Shankar: I focus on what I can control. I mean, sure, I have thoughts on it, but at the end of the day, I can only control the controllable. Everything else is out of my control, so I try not to spend any energy on it. If Netflix bought WB, then great, I get access to more IP.

If they don't, then it’s also great, you know what I mean? I've just been so locked in on the work. I’ve been dropping a [new season of television] or some other cool project every year for most of this decade, with my point being that it's so easy for creatives to get caught up in the architecture of the business. 

For me, I just try to control the controllable because I want to make the best anime I can so that I can grow the marketplace and the anime ecosystem in the U.S. and create more opportunities. It just so happens that anime is growing rapidly worldwide, so I’m hustling to keep that train going and really deliver there. I've cut out anything else that can distract me from that mission.

When you do get some free time these days, what are you watching, reading, or playing? 

Shankar: Well, you know, I started production on a video game. So I've really just been playing that. And then I’ve also started production on a manga. I’ve always read manga, but I’ve been trying to read more manga, so I’ve basically stopped reading American comics, because I don't want to be influenced by that structure. 

So, I've been exclusively going back and rereading all the old manga I love, like Mob Psycho 100, Demon Slayer, Bleach, Sun-Ken Rock, and others.

Interesting. I don’t read much manga, but I’m a big Death Note guy. 

Shankar: Yeah, Death Note's sick, dude. 

They may have only worked together once, but Adi thought of James as a big brother.

So listen, I wanted to ask you about James Van Der Beek. I know he was a close personal friend of yours, so how has his death impacted you? 

Shankar: Oh, wow, yeah. So, you know, Episode 1 of Devil May Cry this season is actually dedicated to him. Literally, the episode ends, and it says, ‘For my older brother.’ Because James wasn't just a friend. He was literally my older brother. 

It’s so fucked up. I nearly just kind of rage-quit everything. You know, I'll tell you this story…

We thought James was going to pass in October. There was a Dawson's Creek reunion that Kevin Williamson put on, and he was really excited to go, but he was in the hospital. Like, he was literally skin and bones, and he couldn't make it. So, Kimberly and the kids went out. 

And it was just me and him in the hospital, and I was holding his hand. The doctor was like, ‘He may not make it to tomorrow.’

And I'm just holding his hand and losing my shit, right? Because I live in this kind of fantasy cartoon world, where there's always another adventure, and we all live forever, like in superhero stuff, where people never really go away, and they can be resurrected. But now I'm dealing with a real-world crisis, and I was just so shell-shocked.

Obviously, he made it through. But that was the first time I ever truly processed [death]. And I was just filled with regret, right? 

The thing is, we only really worked together once. And that was on the Power/Rangers short. But there were so many things we wanted to do. You know what I mean? He would always be like, ‘Hey, man, why don't you just create a show for me, and I'll star in it?’

That night, I went down to the hospital cafeteria to hang out with James' brother, Jared, who looks like James and has James' mannerisms. All the micro-expressions are the same. So, you're basically talking to James. And I was telling Jared, ‘It’s not about the projects, man. It's about the memories you make with people and the fun you have when you're making them.’

So, I almost just rage-quit after that experience in October, where I thought he was going to pass, because I was just sitting there being like, ‘I don't know what the fucking point of any of this is, if you can just go at any moment.’ It just felt super unfair. James was such a good dude.

Thankfully, Netflix really rallied around me. Word got around that I was in a dark spot, and it’s hard to be a leader when you're going through an existential crisis like that. But Netflix really understood. 

I don’t mean to make James’ death all about myself, but it has definitely forced me to confront some stuff.

The other thing about James is, he knew a different side of me — and we go way back, so you know this side of me, too. But people who don't really know me, they just see this Twitter troll guy in makeup. To them, I’m just a guy with face paint who's basically upset that he never got to be a WWE performer. But James said something to me in October that I carry with me to this day.

He said, ‘Look, I need to say something to you before this ends. Don't let your need to be a WWE villain impact your spiritual growth. You're a very sweet guy. I wish you would let everyone see that.’

That's beautiful. And again, I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I know how much he meant to you. 

Shankar: Thanks, man.

I guess my final question relates to that, in a way. I’m not sure exactly how long you’ve been in the business, but looking back after nearly 20 years or so, is there anything you'd do differently? Do you have any regrets? 

Shankar: Well, I wish I hadn't just pivoted without maintaining what I had going.

Are you talking about the pivot from EP’ing movies into producing television? 

Shankar: Yeah. I mean, I could have just kept all that machinery going. But I don't really have regrets. 15 years ago, the Bootleg Universe looked completely illegal. People were going, ‘Wow, this is so clever, but what you're doing is fucking illegal.’

Right. You had to feel like you were getting away with something, on some level.

Shankar: You're doing guerrilla filmmaking, but you're getting movie and TV stars to do it, and you're not distributing it properly, you're putting it on this fucking thing called YouTube, and on top of everything, you don't control the IP. 

I know that shit looked illegal, but today, every studio is trying to manufacture what the Bootleg Universe did organically. So I don't really have regrets. I think doing that opened the door to what I'm doing now.

And look, I don't approach IP like a fucking librarian protecting a sacred museum. I approach it like a musician covering a really dope old song live in front of a big modern audience.

I don't think I would’ve arrived here without all of the past stops on the train. I had to learn how the business works, and all the training I got was so fucking valuable. I mean, how many creatives do you run into who are great, but they don't have the framework?  I can sit in the room with a suit and talk to a suit, and they're like, ‘Wow, so the makeup is just a performance?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, it's just a performance.’ Because I have a suit inside me, too.

To that point, I co-founded an AI company called DAMLA, which stands for Defense Against the Machine Learning Arts. I co-founded it with Adam Breuer, the head of AI at Dartmouth. He has a double Ph.D. from Harvard in machine learning, and he’s one of the top minds in cybersecurity and AI cybersecurity.

I think that understanding all of the business mechanisms and even just knowing how to do the deal to acquire the IP was key to me being a showrunner, because it was like conducting an orchestra on Devil May Cry. You have to know how every part of the orchestra, or the machine, works, and where the pitfalls are, and when to push that machine, and where that machine tends to collapse on itself. 

You have to know how to work with Netflix. When I started working with them, in their old office near UTA, the company was, like, 20 dudes. They were a small company. They were like, ‘Hey, you make crazy short films, right?’ 

I showed up to that first meeting for Castlevania an hour late and dressed as a cowboy with full face paint on, because I had been playing myself, or playing that character, in a music video.

I was in Ojai, and I realized I was late, so I had to speed to get to the meeting, and I was still super late, dressed as a cowboy, with makeup on. That shit would not fly today. You know what I mean? It's a very different company now. It’s a global corporation, and everyone's very serious — a real pivot from when they were a startup that appreciated the wildness.

I had a chat with my executive at the time, Larry Tanz, about this, and he said, ‘The business is shifting from the Wild West, and now it's getting more structured.’ And I'm, like, ‘Okay, I know what that means. I’ve got to show up differently.’ Right? 

What I'm saying is, I don't really look at the past with any regrets, because I know that all of these stops on the train brought me to where I am now, as an auteur showrunner who can work with IP and make it my own, and land that plane. I can be given the keys to the kingdom, or to the franchise, from Capcom and Netflix, and they trust me to conduct the orchestra — not just because I’ve delivered before, but because I know how to show up as a leader. 

I understand how all these different aspects of the business work together. So whether I’m talking to the marketing department or business affairs on the dealmaking side, or the production folks, or various vendors, I can speak all these different languages, and that just takes time to learn.

And this AI company doesn’t come about unless I built my name on copyright infringement. I'm like, ‘Oh, fuck, I kicked open the door for copyright infringement on YouTube by making these unauthorized shorts. Shit.’ But what that also did was broaden the umbrella of fair use. 

I don't know if you saw the Mr. Rogers: A War Hero short I did back in the day, but the whole thing plays like a tall tale. It’s a stupid joke, and the Mister Rogers estate was not happy. They were like, ‘Hey, you need to take this down. It’s not cool.’ And I’m like, ‘Did you watch it?’ And they’re like, ‘No, but we’ve seen your other things.’ I'm like, ‘What? It's not really like the other things.’ I mean, I like Mister Rogers. I like all the IPs that I do creative reinterpretations of. 

They're loving homages.

Shankar: Exactly. And I got an email from Google in 2018 saying, ’Hey, there's been a copyright claim over this short. We've set aside this amount of money in legal fees that you can use, and we'll support you, and we'll feel like you'll win this case.’

And I went, ‘Hold up. Google is not doing this to protect artistic freedom. Google's not like, ‘Adi, you're such a dope creator. We can't wait for you to have Robocop shoot My Little Pony next.’

No, Google was trying to expand the umbrella of what fair use means because then it feeds their fucking wood chipper, right?  I could see that even back then.

And that's why, if you look back, I basically stopped doing those unauthorized short films. I did a Pokémon short after, and then I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I thought I was fighting the “establishment,” but I was actually, like, helping the fucking cyberpunk dystopian machine empire take over the planet. I was like, ‘Fuck that shit. I don't want to participate in that shit.’ 

So, that’s why I have this anti-AI company, DAMLA, because it offers tools that help artists protect themselves against AI ingestion/infringement and fight back in the upcoming AI war.

Not just artists, but people. Artists are people, too. Because with consent, AI becomes a tool. Without it, that shit is a threat. 

Right. It's a weapon.

Shankar: I don't want to call it “rape,” but it's kind of like [intellectual] rape, and that's fucked up. And again, it's not AI, because AI doesn't really exist yet. There's something else called machine learning, and it may be a precursor to AI, but to me, this is a story of corporate overreach. It's a tale as old as time, right? I don't arrive here without experience and knowing how the pieces work together. 

Hopefully, this “War on AI” will actually be a war and not another curbstomp, because animation would probably be the first domino to drop. This is why I've been getting so many AI bros trying to court me. Because they know animation's the first domino to drop, right? And I'm doing anime, so to them, it's close enough. But I’m the only one in the West who is creating anime right now.

Was there anything that you wanted to talk about today that I didn't get a chance to ask you about? 

Shankar: Yes. Fuck Joe Russo and fuck AGBO. I’m sure the committee that's directing Avengers: Doomsday will do a good job.

Hey now! Did Joe do something to you personally?

Shankar: Maybe. Maybe not. I just think that when you look at the problem that has really destroyed our business, it's genericism. To me, he is the world's most generic man. He represents genericism in Hollywood. I'm sure he's a fine dude, but he should be doing episodes of Tracker on CBS or The Rookie on ABC. That’s a job that would be great for him. He should do that. Between him and his brother, it’s like Waldo from Where's Waldo and the Penguin got together and convinced everyone to give them $2 billion, and they basically burned the town down so that the next generation has to suffer.

You can relieve some of that suffering by watching Season 2 of Devil May Cry, which is now streaming on Netflix.

Follow TheInSneider on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Got a hot tip or an interesting pitch? Want to buy an ad? Email me at theinsneider@gmail.com.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

I’ve got a hot rumor for you today about the world’s biggest movie star, Tom Cruise, who has somehow never sent me a coconut cake or responded to any of my fan letters!

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Happy Thursday, folks!

Last night, I made a last-minute decision to see Anthony Jeselnik perform at the Saban Theatre with a few buddies who already had tickets, and while it was an expensive decision, I don’t regret it whatsoever, as it’s hard to put a price on an evening that ends with your cheeks hurting from laughing so hard.

Megan Gailey and Sarah Tiana did a great job opening for Jeselnik, who spent roughly an hour delivering 65 killer jokes, which he said he chose from nearly 1300 options. Jeselnik remains the undisputed king of the dark joke, and if you guys had read last night’s post about Netflix Is a Joke Fest, you could’ve joined the raucous party, where nothing was off limits, from jokes about incest and molestation to racism and misogyny. Each one of them absolutely slayed and brought the house down, trust me.

Tonight, I’m off to see Sam Morril and Joe List — frankly, Netflix should be throwing tickets at me — so wish me luck, as that show will end around midnight in downtown L.A., which is always a fun place to be after dark, ha!

Tonight, I’ve got a scoop about a new live-action YA series in the works at Disney, and a casting scoop about Netflix’s live-action Scooby-Doo series. I also offer up my hopes, dreams, and predictions for this year’s Emmys race, and a look at the trailer for Tatiana Maslany’s new Apple TV series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, which is poised to surprise later this month.

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Happy Tuesday, folks!

Theaters were absolutely packed this weekend thanks to The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Michael, while I went to see Hokum and lived to regret it. I mean, if you want to spend two hours with an asshole writer, just watch my podcast every week!

Who knew I would feel even worse 48 hours later when my beloved Boston Celtics dropped their first playoff series of my lifetime to the Philadelphia 76ers, who deserved the victory, quite frankly. We just didn’t have the stuff this year.

Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions hasn’t had the stuff either lately, as the company doesn’t have much to show for its high-priced deal on the Universal lot besides Peele's Nope and Justin Tipping’s incoherent sports thriller Him.

Monkeypaw’s first-look deal expires in a few months, and the company let go of several staffers on Tuesday in an effort to refocus its development efforts. It’s unclear whether Peele was forced to downsize in the hopes of getting Universal to re-up his deal, or whether he wanted to make Monkeypaw a smaller, more nimble operation should he choose to set up shop elsewhere.

Personally, I don’t think Peele is going anywhere, but the only thing I know is that Peele has settled on his next movie, and while he’s still writing it, a well-placed source says that in terms of scale, it’s the director’s biggest movie to date. Nope had a reported production budget of $68 million, so Peele’s new budget may be more in line with the $90 million that Warner Bros. gave Ryan Coogler and Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sinners and The Bride, respectively.

Universal has been very patient with Peele, and the studio is hoping his next effort will be worth the wait.

I also watched the 1980 cult classic Night of the Juggler this weekend, and that movie proved to be worth the wait. I had to sign up for a Los Angeles Public Library card so I could watch the movie on an app called Hoopla, but I didn’t mind jumping through hoops to do so.

The film stars James Brolin as an ex-cop and father willing to do anything to recover his kidnapped daughter, played by veteran Innovative Artists agent Abby Bluestone. It’s one of those gritty crime movies where New York plays a co-starring role, only this time, that hackneyed description is fully earned. For the most part, I had a blast with the chaotic tale, which lends itself well to a remake.

I also binged the entirety of Tatiana Maslany’s new Apple TV series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, which I’ll be able to write about closer its release in a couple of weeks.

Tonight, a look at the 26 hottest tickets of the 2026 Netflix Is a Joke Festival, which is taking over Los Angeles this week, including a sneak preview of the Roast of Kevin Hart courtesy of host Shane Gillis, who tested some highly offensive (and hilarious) material at the Hollywood Bowl last night. Plus, a look at the trailer for Netflix’s new romantic comedy Office Romance starring Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein, who is also performing at Netflix’s comedy festival this week.

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Happy Thursday, folks!

This week, I watched a ton of new stuff, including Anya Taylor-Joy’s upcoming Apple TV series Lucky, which remains under embargo until its July debut; Season 2 of Jon Hamm’s series Your Friends & Neighbors, which feels more and more like Sex and the City for men; and David Wain’s comedy Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, which features Hamm as the titular Celebrity.

I also went on a bit of a Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio kick, watching James Cameron’s The Abyss, Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money, and the Kevin Kline cop movie The January Man all in a row. I can’t say the latter was very good, but I’m glad I watched the other two in their entirety for the first time, having only seen bits and pieces of them on cable TV growing up. I wouldn’t call either film their director’s best, but there’s a lot to like about both of them.

This weekend, I plan to check out The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Hokum. I also plan to catch up with Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, which has been low on my priority list at the expense of other TV shows, and finish watching Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, which I’ve somehow never seen before.

I’m working on my first list of Emmy predictions, and I’m still waiting for the Michael news cycle to settle down before weighing in on that film and the hoopla surrounding it on multiple levels — from the divide between the response from critics and audiences, to what it means for the musical biopic genre, the film’s awards chances, and what Lionsgate may have planned for the forthcoming sequel.

Instead, tonight’s newsletter focuses on Top Gun 3, and who may be in line to direct the Tom Cruise-led sequel now that it seems clear Joseph Kosinski has no plans to return.

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Happy Monday, folks!

This morning brings my final dispatch from CinemaCon, but if you’re tired of reading about it and you’d prefer to just listen to my thoughts in the car or on the treadmill, then check out my discussion with Max Sloth on the latest episode of his podcast, Anticipation Blvd.

I also discussed CinemaCon with John Rocha on our podcast, The Hot Mic, and I’ll talk about it further this week with Edward Douglas on an upcoming episode of The Weekend Warrior podcast, so stay tuned for that one.

By the way, at the end of last week’s Hot Mic podcast, I shared the rumor I’ve heard that Paramount’s new genre label — the one that Weapons producers J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules are building out — will be called Paramount Primal. Thoughts? Alternate suggestions before the studio makes an official announcement?

It’s been quiet on the news front beyond Cannes packages — Austin Butler and Pedro Pascal are joining Matthew McConaughey in Park Chan-wook’s ultraviolent western The Brigands of Rattlecreek — though it does sound like Jonathan Bailey (Wicked’s Prince Fiyero) is replacing Glen Powell in John Lee Hancock’s indie movie Monsanto, which will co-star Laura Dern.

Powell signed on to that project two years ago, and I didn’t expect the producers to wait much longer for his busy schedule to clear. I know Powell was recently rumored to star in Michael Giacchino’s remake of Them! at Warner Bros., and I have no inside info on that one, so I’m unable to confirm, but I have heard that Powell is going to produce an adaptation of Emma Brodie’s bestselling book Into the Blue via his Barnstorm banner.

Hailed by Reese Witherspoon’s influential book club, the book is described as “an epic, decades-spanning love story that blazes through the worlds of acting and comedy and charts a connection unlike any other.” Stay tuned for more…

I wish I could’ve written more last week, but I was knocked for a loop thanks to a mysterious illness. Thankfully, I’m on the mend and feeling a bit better, and I plan to return soon to write about two of my disgraced childhood heroes, Michael Jackson and Hulk Hogan, whose stories are told — sort of — in new projects.

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Happy Thursday, folks!

I know I’ve been MIA for the past week, but there are two reasons for that.

One, I’ve been sick, and two, I’ve been writing 10,000 words about CinemaCon.

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Happy Thursday, folks!

I’m still here at CinemaCon, working on studio report cards, but a juicy tip found its way to my ears this week — a sincere thank you to my tipster — so here I am, a man of the people, sharing this fascinating info with you.

A quick reminder that I did pay my own way to CinemaCon this year, and Las Vegas ain’t cheap, so if you’d like to show your humble host some appreciation by subscribing for a month, I certainly won’t stop you!

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It’s Wednesday morning in Las Vegas. Do you know where your pet tiger is?

After listening to Modest Mouse, Explosions in the Sky, Arcade Fire, Interpol, and Stellastarr* on the drive from L.A. to Vegas, I checked into my room at the Flamingo because I didn’t register for a room at Caesar’s Palace in time to use the CinemaCon discount. Womp womp!

The hallways here smell like cigarettes, and thanks to a new law that recently went into effect, there has been construction at 6:30 a.m. both mornings, but besides that, I’m hanging in there and doing just fine. I’ve been hanging with my right-hand man, Jamie Williams, as well as my podcast co-host, John Rocha, and it was great to finally meet Andrew and Jacob from Discussing Film at last night’s swanky Lionsgate party.

I got a late start on the road on Monday, so I missed the indie presentations from Studiocanal, Sony Pictures Classics, and Angel Studios. The Sony Classics slate should probably be rolled into Big Sony’s presentation next year, though, as the separation makes no sense. Focus Features offers up its slate during Universal’s presentation each year, so what’s the difference, really?

I have no clue what went on during the Sony Classics presentation, but the studio is behind I Swear, which hits theaters next weekend and is the best film I’ve seen all year.

Faith-based Angel Studios, which is as smart as any distributor out there these days, has Young Washington, a new movie about a young George Washington that I can’t imagine will be very good, despite having major names like Andy Serkis and Ben Kingsley involved. I’d much rather see a movie about Shane Gillis’ idea of George Washington as a freakishly tall nutcase with horse teeth, or perhaps just a straight-up horror movie called George Slashington, in which a slasher on horseback kills people while wearing a powdered wig.

Finally, Studiocanal made some headlines, announcing reboots of Escape From New York (meh) and The Howling (ripe), and pushing Danny Boyle’s Ink to 2027. That film stars Guy Pearce as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and I’m told that the footage was genuinely impressive, so I’m bummed to have missed it. Perhaps it’ll be an Oscar contender next year, but with its new date, it has officially been removed from this year’s race.

In this newsletter, you’ll read my thoughts on Sony and Neon’s CinemaCon presentations, and I’m going to try to have my Warner Bros. report card up before Universal’s presentation in a couple of hours. But no promises!

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Happy Tuesday, folks!

I am here at CinemaCon, where I’ve been dutifully working on the studio report cards that have marketing executives across town waiting with bated breath.

There are far bigger newsletters than mine that can tell you far more important things, but when it comes to trailer reactions, the buck stops here — I can tell you that. I don’t need tracking to tell me how a movie is going to perform — I have two eyes, a gut, and occasionally, taste.

Speaking of which, I’m skipping tomorrow morning’s screening of DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island to work on said report cards, as my young nieces aren’t in Vegas as far as I know. I’m sure it’ll be fun for the whole family, though.

And speaking of family, I was once (honored to be) part of The Ankler family, so my heart goes out to Richard Rushfield and Co. following Paramount’s petty decision to pull its ad dollars from the publication.

Having said that, this is a rather fascinating story that presents a pretty complicated issue…

On one hand, as I said last night to some friends — before I even knew that Rushfield had signed it — I thought the high-profile petition to #BlockTheMerger was pretty dopey, as I can’t really recall the last Hollywood petition to actually work. Why not just make another cringey “Imagine” video?

I mean, who is the petition supposed to be for? The government folks who think they have the power to stop the merger in the interest of the public good? Did they need a petition to spur them into action? Is the petition supposed to make Paramount’s David Ellison feel bad and halt his pursuit of WB? Is it supposed to make President Trump feel bad? WB’s David Zaslav? I genuinely don’t get who this message is intended for.

Obviously, this merger is not going to be good for anyone but Ellison, really. But what’s the alternative? See, there has to be an alternative, as WB is drowning in a sea of debt that is 100 percent of its own making. Ellison didn’t force the studio into this position.

So, if Ellison doesn’t buy Paramount, who will? Because someone has to. And Netflix walked away from the opportunity without so much as putting up a fight. For the streamer, it was about bidding up a rival and walking away with a cool break-up fee for its troubles.

I’m not a petition guy. I don’t believe they work. And I’m too apathetic to sign one.

I also think that, as a journalist, you shouldn’t really be signing a petition like that. You can oppose the merger all you want — that’s what your column is for, if you’re lucky enough, as Rushfield and I both are, to even have a column.

Rushfield argues, ‘What’s the difference?’ Either way, he opposes the merger, which is totally fine and certainly understandable. So why is Paramount choosing to punish The Ankler for this stance, which hasn’t exactly been a state secret?

To put a button on it (ha!), signing the petition crossed a line for Paramount, and I understand it from their point of view. ‘If you aren’t even going to allow us to plead our case,’ why would we support you with an ad buy?’ Of course, in theory, ad buys aren’t supposed to be about supporting a publication; they're supposed to be about using the reach of a publication to help sell your product. But we all know that ads are what keep the lights on at the trades, which is why they usually do the bidding of the studios.

Will The Ankler be forced to downsize because of this financial decision? I hope not, as it employs some solid journalists. Furthermore, I don’t see what the upside is for Paramount in antagonizing one of the few journalistic outlets that holds any sway whatsoever anymore. I think it’s childish that Paramount pulled its financial support, but it’s not my business to tell the studio how to spend its money — unless we’re talking about movies.

Meanwhile, who the fuck narc’d on Richard to Paramount for holding a bag of #BlockTheMerger buttons? Like, who would do that? What is wrong with people? Why isn’t anyone fucking cool anymore, like me and, yes, Richard? Shit like that infuriates me to no end.

In conclusion, I fully support Rushfield’s decision to sign the petition, as he’s a grown man who can do what he wants. But I can support that decision without agreeing with it. And we adults (I moonlight as one on occasion) also know that there are consequences for our actions, and The Ankler is not entitled to a fat annual ad spend from Paramount.

I know everyone is down on Ellison because his family is tight with President Trump, but leaving all the political considerations aside (Mark Ruffalo is already freaking out about CNN after this incident), I know Ellison loves movies. There are a lot of billionaires out there who would love to own a movie studio for all the wrong reasons.

David is doing it because he genuinely loves movies — and always has.

I’m telling you that the only time the guy really came to life during his inaugural press conference was when I asked him about movies and his relationship with Tom Cruise. Every other reporter wanted to know about CNN, and linear TV channels, and all this boring shit that had nothing to do with movies. It blew my mind.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily rooting for Ellison to get his hands on Warner Bros., but I also haven’t made this merger (or hating Trump) my entire personality. It’s going to happen whether I want it to happen or not. That’s life as one of the peons. A petition isn’t going to change a god damn thing, all due respect.

By the way, I’ve never been asked to sign a petition, which I find a little insulting, but I’m not sweating it too much, for it’s like the old Groucho Marx quote: "I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.” That’s why I don’t belong to any critics organizations, either.

Anyway, with my take on today’s hottest media story out of the way, it’s time to drop that DC scoop my headline promised — though right now is probably a good time to remind everyone that this newsletter is a reader-supported publication. When’s the last time you saw an ad here? Exactly… so do the right thing and tip your server. If you’d tip for a meal or a beer, why not tip for a scoop? I promise that I exerted just as much effort!

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Happy Monday, folks!

CinemaCon is about to kick off with the Sony Pictures presentation — I drove to Las Vegas again this year, and dropped my road playlist on Twitter — but before the four-day event gets underway, I wanted to weigh in on next year’s Oscar race, having spent last week polling some of the most powerful people in Hollywood. They helped me sort the true contenders from the pretenders.

However, before I get to those predictions, I offer some test screening reactions regarding the Tom Cruise movie Digger, Brad Pitt’s survival film Heart of the Beast, and Ridley Scott’s period drama The Dog Stars, to give a little context to this year's race.

I also pass along some early buzz on Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot, Matt Johnson’s Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony, and J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi/fantasy film The Great Beyond, which I’m told has a muted presence thus far in Las Vegas. Perhaps it’s all part of the director’s plan and his penchant for “mystery box” marketing…

Now, before we get to the good stuff, I wanted to weigh in on these Louis Partridge-James Bond rumors, which were given more fuel by the legitimacy(?) offered by Variety. Personally, I don’t believe there’s anything to this rumor — not because I’ve asked anyone, but because I just can’t see it myself.

Best known for the Enola Holmes movies, Partridge looks like a pretty boy, not a return to the rough-and-tumble Bond that screenwriter Steven Knight has hinted at. I know Partridge played Sid Vicious for Danny Boyle, so he does have a bit of an edge to him, but I just don’t get the right vibe from him, even if the 22-year-old actor does turn out to fit the age that Knight and director Denis Villeneuve are going for. I’m skeptical.

I’m all for a younger Bond, but people still want to see a man, not a boy.

This week, I saw not one but two actors who I think would make better Bonds, as it were. 31-year-old Tom Blyth, who impressed me in last year’s gay drama Plainclothes, feels genuinely dangerous in Cal McMau’s prison thriller Wasteman.

Meanwhile, I can’t say much about Richard Gadd’s new HBO Max series Half Man, which remains under embargo, but it seems worth keeping an eye on 27-year-old Scottish actor Stuart Campbell. I’ll just say that, generally speaking, he has a certain presence, and I’ll leave it at that for now.

For more on Half Man, check out the trailer at the bottom of this newsletter.

I was also impressed this weekend by Kieron Moore’s fearless turn in Blue Film, which I’ll have more to say about that film closer to its release next month.

I also watched Netflix’s shark thriller Thrash, which I consider a guilty pleasure. Sure, it strands Phoebe Dynevor for most of its brief running time, but I liked Whitney Peak (soon to be seen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which dropped a new trailer today) as well as the scenes featuring Stacy Clausen and his two siblings. I’m now looking forward to seeing more from Clausen in this summer’s queer horror movie Leviticus.

Finally, I watched Jonah Hill’s Outcome this weekend, but the less said about that one, the better. Just an unfunny mess from top to bottom.

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Happy Wednesday, folks!

Well, unless you work for Bad Robot, which is downsizing in very public fashion in the wake of J.J. Abrams’ humbling move to New York; or Sony, which is laying off hundreds; or Disney, which is expected to lay off 1000 staffers as part of some scheme Josh D’Amaro has allowed to be labeled “Project Imagine”; or you’re Jeff Shell, the former president of Paramount Skydance who was forced to resign after being sued by a gambler whose company he never should’ve kept; or you’re a fan of Steven Soderbergh, who announced that his next movie with Wagner Moura will be made with the help of… “a lot of AI.” And gas is nearly $7 a gallon. God help us all!

At least it was a good day for the editors of the Avatar franchise, as Disney apparently wants James Cameron to make Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 “shorter.” I don’t know if that will make their job easier or harder, but at least there will be fewer child kidnappings to sort through — one would hope!

I’ve been too busy watching television — Beef S2, The Boys S5, Daredevil: Born Again S2, Euphoria S3, Hacks S5, HBO’s Half Man, Netflix’s Detective Hole, NBC’s two Law & Order shows, etc. — to pay much attention to all the Cannes rumors floating around, but suffice to say, I fully expect Zack Snyder’s The Last Photograph to make its debut on the Croisette, as rumored. I’ve heard good things about the film, which represents a change of pace for its talented director following a trio of Netflix movies.

I’m also hearing good things about Antoine Fuqua’s Michael in advance of its April 24 release. By then, the domestic box office will have gone from Super Mario to Super Michael, as the music biopic is poised to open north of $60 million. Expect it to perform even better overseas, where Michael Jackson is beloved.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been so busy setting up the new pad that when I looked up at the clock last night, I realized there was no way I could get from Santa Monica to Century City in time for Emerson College’s 6th annual Industry Film Showcase at CAA, organized by the tireless Aimee Rivera. I heard the event had a great turnout, though, and I’m bummed to have missed it.

Tonight, I’ve got a juicy CinemaCon preview, a scoop about Netflix’s Kevin Hart roast, and a look at today’s Superman casting mishegas.

There are also items about the new writers of the X-Men and Scream franchises, the latest addition to FX’s Alien: Earth, movies about Bob Barker and Walter Cronkite, and my thoughts on A24’s teaser for Olivia Wilde’s Sundance comedy The Invite.

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Happy Monday, folks!

The folks at A24 have to be happy with the $14.4 million domestic opening for The Drama, which overcame mixed reviews with its clever (some would say misleading) marketing strategy. I think you have to hand it to the studio here — and Zendaya, too.

Meanwhile, I completed my move to the West Side this weekend, and now I’m just wading through heavy boxes that have wreaked havoc on my back, which is why I recorded last Thursday’s Hot Mic podcast lying down, like the other GOAT, Larry Bird.

I have every print edition of Variety that my byline has appeared in, but with limited space, I may have to say farewell to most of those issues and save only the ones with big scoops or memorable features.

And yes, I do write features, for any editors who may be looking.

I’m also proud to say that my trusty 2019 Volkswagen held up over the weekend and made it to the dealership downtown this morning, even though I wasn’t 100 percent convinced it would.

I’ve spent most of the day here in the waiting room, sipping complimentary hot chocolates and fiercely guarding the only available power outlet, just so I can bring you this special report from deep space.

I’ll be back with a full newsletter soon, but for now, here’s the latest on Red Foreman’s favorite “dumbass.”

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Happy Friday, folks!

I’m still knee-deep in moving — who knew a one-bedroom apartment in Koreatown could fit so many boxes — but I’m working my way through a mini-backlog of casting scoops, so I appreciate your patience.

This latest exclusive is an example of what happens when you shake the tree — stuff falls out! Thanks to my tipster for thinking of me!

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Happy Thursday, folks!

I spent the entire day moving, and I can barely feel my fingers. I’m tired, my car’s brakes sound like shit, and to top it all off, I lost the keys to my old apartment at some point today, which sucks.

In other words, it has been a day here at InSneider HQ, but fear not! I’m always thinking of you guys, my readers, who have allowed me to move to the West Side, where I think I’ll be much more productive.

Premium subscribers may now enter the Sneider-Verse to read my first casting scoop from sunny Santa Monica… even though it’s 10 p.m. at night.

Plu

Happy Tuesday, folks!

I apologize for my intermittent posting. I’m just moving this week — a good thing this time! Don’t worry, the U.S. Postal Service will still forward all your hate mail to my new address. So yeah, I’ve been super busy, and some of my best sources have been away on spring break. It’s a perfect storm of circumstances, but fear not — once I get settled, I’ll be back on the hunt, and April tends to be a good month for me, as I step up my game around this time each year ahead of CinemaCon.

Last week, I finished watching Netflix’s supernatural series Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, which hails from creator Haley Z. Boston and the Duffer brothers. I had planned to write a full review of the show, though the moment passed me by. However, I liked what I saw, for the most part. I found the finale a tad underwhelming, owing more than a little to Ready or Not, and I wish the rules had been a bit more clear, but the show held my attention, largely thanks to its cast.

Camila Morrone is fantastic in this series as its beautiful, bewildered, betrothed lead, who is willing to go to great lengths to walk down the aisle and make her in-laws happy. As her groom, Adam DiMarco does a nice job of keeping viewers wondering whether he’s really the nice guy that he seems to be.

I’m a big fan of character actor Zlatko Buric, and Gus Birney is quickly growing on me, too, between her work in this show, Black Rabbit, and The Last Frontier. But the surprise standout for me was Jeff Wilbusch, who plays DiMarco’s creepy older brother. He had me wondering, ‘Who the hell is that guy?’ and that’s no easy feat in a show co-starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ted Levine.

Speaking of wedding-themed projects, tonight brings a review of the new A24 joint The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. One of Pattinson’s earliest films was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and tonight, I share my thoughts on the first trailer for HBO’s new Harry Potter series. Is it a good idea, or a trainwreck waiting to happen?

Plus, it has been a busy week for news, so fans of the Bits & Bobs section will be pleased tonight, as there are items about Ryan Gosling, Tom Hanks, Dua Lipa, Stephen Colbert, Oliver Stone, Paul Walter Hauser, Mahershala Ali, Kirsten Dunst, Glen Powell, and former Variety film critic Peter Debruge.

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Happy Thursday, folks!

Unless, of course, you work for Row K, the indie distributor that’s already struggling to pay its bills less than a year after launching. The company spent way too much money to acquire and release Gus Van Sant’s thriller Dead Man’s Wire, which simply wasn’t an awards contender, and the film wound up losing millions.

Now, Maude Apatow’s directorial debut, Poetic License, is searching for a new distributor — the horror! — Row K is stuck with a Nick Robinson-Emilia Jones movie called Charlie Harper, and the company is touting the Aug. 28 release of its Cliffhanger reboot starring Lily James — a prospect I find suspicious, given that Row K can’t even pay its moderators a few hundred bucks right now.

I feel kind of bad for Megan Colligan, who was in charge of creative at Row K, not the company’s finances, but how could she not know who she was getting into business with? I’m not gonna name names, but one already presided over a company that crashed and burned under unusual financial circumstances. A leopard can’t change its spots, as the saying goes…

Meanwhile, it should go without saying that the indie film business is a horrible, horrible business, and you really have to have a strong stomach for it — and the inevitable losses it brings.

Speaking of losses, Disney may have dodged a bullet with OpenAI pulling the plug on Sora, its AI video generator. The company will get back its billion-dollar investment, and it’ll be able to choose another Big Tech partner to Josh D’Amaro’s liking.

There’s still no word on why OpenAI shuttered Sora, but I suspect that the company realizes that the way to make real money is to cater its products to businesses rather than the average consumer, who only has so much money to spend on AI. Plus, while a ton of people are down to watch AI videos, far fewer people want to actually make them.

This evening’s newsletter finally brings my thoughts on the Oscars and the internet’s favorite post-show topic — Timothée Chalamet‘s future.

Over the past 10 days, we’ve heard more about Chalamet — why he lost, and how he could’ve won — than any of the actual winners, and frankly, I’m sick of it. Mainly because most of these writers have no idea what they’re talking about, let alone how to appreciate true greatness. They’re turned off by confidence. As I write below, fuck ‘em!

I apologize for swearing, but I’m in the mood after catching a sneak peek of the Tourette’s movie I Swear last week, when it screened as part of the AMC Screen Unseen program.

I offered up a brief review on Twitter, but simply put, I Swear is a must-see, featuring an incredible performance from Robert Aramayo as John Davidson, the man who recently shouted the N-word at Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they were onstage at the BAFTAs — an incident that somehow made it to the BBC broadcast.

Davidson has Tourette syndrome, which often prompts him to say the worst thing imaginable at the worst possible times. It was a regrettable incident, no doubt, but an involuntary one, and I hope that the bitter memory doesn’t affect Aramayo’s awards chances next year. After all, there’s a reason he beat Chalamet and eventual Oscar winner Jordan at the BAFTAs this year.

Frankly, I loved Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan, too, as well as Scott Ellis Watson, who plays a younger version of John. I Swear is a total crowdpleaser, and I understand why some will likely skip it in the wake of the BAFTA controversy, but after seeing the film and learning about John’s story, that controversy looks even more silly.

Davidson harbors no hate in his heart, and it would be a real shame if someone didn’t see this movie. Not only would they be missing an entertaining opportunity to educate themselves about Tourette’s, but they’d only further stigmatize the disease, all because they aren’t mature enough to understand that what happened at the BAFTAs was purely accidental — no ill will was intended. And yes, intentions still matter, dammit!

Please see I Swear when it hits theaters on April 24. It’s a real winner and a total crowdpleaser. You won’t be sorry — I swear!

Damon Lindelof was sorry last week, though… for calling the color green “stupid” on a 2024 podcast while jokingly explaining why DC’s new Green Lantern series would simply be called Lanterns.

Because some DC fans seem to have a mental defect, they jumped on Lindelof and called for his head, though they were forced to settle for an apology from the man himself.

Lindelof called it “a dumb joke” that was “sloppy and careless.” I don’t know if HBO forced him to address it, given how much the network has riding on Lanterns, but I’ve seen a lot of stupid “controversies” in my day, and this one just about took the cake.

But don’t worry… the frosting was green.

In addition to my thoughts on the Oscars and Lil Timmy Tim, tonight’s mega-edition includes an in-depth review of Project Hail Mary and my thoughts on the Dune: Part Three trailer.

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Happy Monday, folks!

I’ve got plenty of writing coming your way, as it was a surprisingly busy news day, but for now, here’s a juicy rumor about The Bad Guys 2 duo Awkwafina and Anthony Ramos to tide you over.

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Happy Friday, everyone!

If you’re here for the tea on Taylor Frankie Paul, well, I’m sorry to disappoint — I’ve got nothing. But what a wild turn of events for Disney/ABC! The network knew about TFP’s past and still cast her anyway, but once TMZ published that ugly video this week, it had no choice but to scrap the entire season of The Bachelorette. Live by crazy, die by crazy, folks! Bob Iger dodged a bullet here. Welcome to the Big Show, Josh D’Amaro!

I don’t have any thoughts on the new Ryan Gosling movie Project Hail Mary yet, as I won’t catch it until Saturday night, but I can’t wait to see if it lives up to the hype.

However, last night, I did see Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which is the latest loser from Searchlight Pictures and Radio Silence. I caught this sequel with a buddy who agreed that it sucked.

I wasn’t a big fan of the first Ready or Not, but I thought it was okay. I suppose it was a fun movie, I just thought the ending was a giant shoulder shrug — as in, “We have no idea how to end this movie, so let’s just make everyone spontaneously combust!”

Personally, I thought it was ridiculous.

So, I’m not entirely sure why I had a modicum of hope for this sequel, which arrives seven years later (way too late) and should’ve been retitled One Spontaneous Combustion After Another. This entire movie is the same joke on repeat. I gave it a half-star on my blog for its clever washing machine kill, but not even Samara Weaving’s tongue-in-cheek performance can save this mess.

Meanwhile, what is there to say about Radio Silence? These guys showed real promise with their V/H/S short 10/31/98. But since then… woof.

To be fair, their movies make money, for the most part. They have decent commercial instincts. But I couldn’t stand their Scream movies, nor was I a fan of Devil’s Due or Abigail, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to their new Mummy movie, either. Let’s just say, if I were a development executive, you wouldn’t find them on any of my director lists…

Speaking of Searchlight, much has been written about its new Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot, which was rejected by Hulu. There has been a lot of misinformation put out there, and if you want my thoughts, you should really check out the spicy Hot Mic segment that John Rocha and I did about the situation, as we didn’t quite see eye to eye.

In short, this was about having the wrong talent involved, I’m told by reliable sources close to the situation. I’m told that Lilla and Nora Zuckerman were not the right fit for the project, that Chloe Zhao was certainly not the right fit, and that it didn’t help matters that Disney exec Craig Erwich (who oversees Hulu) wasn’t a fan of the original series, which was, of course, Joss Whedon’s baby.

No Whedon, no problem, right? Not quite…

The Buffy pilot didn’t turn out very well, according to, well, just about everybody, and rather than be villainized by the talent in the pages of People Magazine, Erwich should be commended for doing his job — being the “bad guy” who has to make tough decisions sometimes.

This decision was about defending the brand. If Hulu had put out a shitty Buffy series, it could’ve hurt the IP long-term. Erwich, wisely, wasn’t willing to take that chance, no matter how badly star Sarah Michelle Gellar wanted the show to be picked up so she could earn millions and be “back” as the star of a major streaming series.

After all, Hulu plans to go back to the drawing board and redevelop the IP, and there’s no guarantee that Gellar’s Buffy Summers will be involved in the next incarnation. After suffering this public humiliation, she may not even want to be involved. We’ll see…

Having said that, I’m told that there’s no bad blood between Gellar and Zhao and that they’re open to working together in the future on the right project. Hamnet 2, anyone?

And now, before I let the premium readers dive into today’s issue, a couple of mini-updates for everyone, as I hear that Judd Apatow’s upcoming Universal comedy starring Glen Powell may be titled The Comeback King, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s AI-themed Netflix movie starring Rachel McAdams may be titled, simply, 2034.

Tonight’s top story is a doozy, as I’ve got interesting news about newly-crowned Oscar winners Paul Thomas Anderson and Michael B. Jordan, and a little scoop about beloved character actor P.J. Byrne, too.

There are also items about Glen Powell’s producing prowess, the newest member of the Fast & Furious family, Paul Greengrass’ new action thriller, the subject of Netflix’s new comedy roast, and the latest addition to the cast of WB’s Minecraft sequel.

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