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Did you see A24 and Timothee Chalamet on a ‘zoom’ was an experience! Great Marty Supreme promo. If a litttle long.
Today is the final day of the American Film Market, headlines below.
We’ll be at Slush in Helsinki from Tuesday. Gissus a shout if you’ll be there. Also, did you try THE CALCULATOR yet? Always nice to gawp at your streaming habits, #amiright. Click below.
AFM NEWS FLASH
So the American Film Market has just wrapped, here's a few takeaways from the return to LA after the Vegas experiment last year didn’t go soooo well.
Venue
The Fairmont is the first venue in ages that doesn't feel like they're hosting a trade show for kitchen appliances. Or slot machines. So that’s good.
Mel’s gone biblical (again)
The biggest swing at the market may well be Gibson's two-part sequel to The Passion of the Christ with a combined $200 million budget. Lionsgate is selling it, scripts are locked down tighter than Fort Knox, and it's coming March 2027 (Part 1) and May 2027 (Part 2). Someone's feeling confident. Fair play Mel.
Other star packages getting the hype:
Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver in New York thriller Useful Idiots
Benicio Del Toro and Cameron Diaz reuniting for crime drama Reenactment
Jessica Chastain and Chris Pine in My Darling California
Daisy Edgar-Jones in Bad Bridgets
Toni Collette and Milly Alcock in survival thriller Hot Mother
The less exciting news:
Indie distributors may be struggling to lock streaming deals with the big boys - Hulu, HBO Max and Starz are all paying less than they used to. Netflix has basically stopped acquiring very much, for now, though Amazon's still playing. Projects in the $10-15M budget range are apparently impossible to pre-sell right now. But Sky have gone back to an acquisition strategy.
And AFM's about to get some competition - TIFF is launching its own market in 2026. Should be interestinggg.
AI
AFM have partnered with Cannes Marché du Film to launch an Innovation Hub focused on AI in filmmaking. Panels about how it's transforming everything from creation to distribution. The future is happening and AI will be used, whether the industry likes it or not!
Fear not people, RecDek is here to guide you through these turbulent times.
Onto our pick of the week!
Sometimes the worst timing isn't just being in the wrong place - it's being in the right place but at absolutely the worst moment in history.
Lola Petticrew plays Cushla, a Catholic teacher in 1975 Belfast who falls for Michael (Tom Cullen), a Protestant barrister who defends young Catholics. He's married, he's older, he's a walking target for both sides, and getting involved with him is genuinely mental. Naturally, she does it anyway. Gillian Anderson is devastating as Cushla's widowed mother drowning in loneliness and gin, adding another layer of despair to Cushla's impossible situation.
What could feel like generic melodrama gets elevated by the sheer weight of the Troubles pressing down on every single moment. The priests at Cushla's school are screaming that all Protestants are evil while she's secretly driving a mixed-religion family's kids home through estates that throw bricks at her car. British soldiers make the pub she works at a nightly powder keg. Petticrew carries the whole thing beautifully, playing Cushla's romantic idealism against brutal reality without tipping into naivety. Cullen's Michael is pure dreamy escapism - all tousled hair and Van Morrison on the turntable - which makes the inevitable collision with sectarian violence even more gutting.
Proper heartbreaking stuff that sneaks up on you through deceptively familiar beats.
ADD IT TO YOUR RECDEK WATCHLIST
Catch ya soon.
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Ed
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