Last Looks: Angelina Jolie joins 'The Initiative,' 'Shrek 5' moved to summer 2027

The Dailies

The Dailies reports on the latest in development, greenlights, renewals, and cancellations.

Shrek 5 (DreamWorks)

Film Development 🗒️

• Angelina Jolie will star in spy thriller ‘The Initiative,’ reuniting with ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ director Doug Liman for Universal. (more)
• Noah Centineo will star in Millennium’s ‘John Rambo’ origin film. (more)
• Chris O’Dowd has joined Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Artificial.’ (more)
• Stavros Halkias has joined A24’s Anthony Bourdain biopic ‘Tony.’ (more)
• A24 has acquired worldwide rights to Ian Tuason’s horror debut ‘The Undertone’ after its Fantasia Fest premiere. (more)
• Universal has moved ‘Shrek 5’ to June 30, 2027, with an untitled Illumination event film now opening April 16, 2027. (more)
• Sony has acquired Justin and Jordan Shipley’s comedy screenplay ‘This Could Be Our Night.’ (more)
• LaKeith Stanfield, Jason Clarke, Sam Claflin, and Trevante Rhodes have joined Taylor Sheridan’s action thriller ‘F.A.S.T.’ at Warner Bros. (more)
• Max Minghella is in talks to join DC Studios’ ‘Clayface,’ set for release on Sept. 11, 2026. (more)
• Rachel Marsh, Nicholas Duvernay, Jaboukie Young-White, and Arty Froushan have joined Amazon MGM’s rom-com ‘The Love Hypothesis.’ (more)
• New Line is bringing back ‘Bloodlines’ co-writer Lori Evans Taylor for the next ‘Final Destination’ after the last film’s record-breaking run. (more)
• Orion will release ‘Is God Is’, Aleshea Harris’ star-studded stage play adaptation, in theaters on May 15, 2026. (more)
• New Line has hired Ben Zazove and Evan Turner to write a ‘Space Invaders’ film based on the classic Taito arcade game. (more)
• Vertical has picked up North American rights to sci-fi thriller ‘Motherland’, set for a Sept. 12, 2025 release. (more)
• Netflix is developing action comedy ‘The Leading Man’ with Kevin Hart and John Cena set to star and produce. (more)
• Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner will star in Will Gluck’s ‘One Night Only,’ hitting theaters Aug. 7, 2026. (more)
• Kristen Wiig will star opposite Jonah Hill in Warner Bros’ comedy ‘Cut Off,’ set for a July 17, 2026 theatrical release. (more)
• Pedro Pascal is in talks to star in Tony Gilroy’s ‘Behemoth!’ for Searchlight, set to film this fall in Los Angeles. (more)

TV Development 📺

• William H. Macy will star in Dan Fogelman’s untitled NFL drama series for Hulu alongside Christopher Meloni. (more)
• Kevin Hart is partnering with Netflix on an untitled stand-up competition series debuting in 2026 to find comedy’s next big star. (more)
• John Malkovich will guest star in Apple TV+’s romantic comedy series ‘Prodigies’ alongside Will Sharpe and Ayo Edebiri. (more)
• Craig Mazin is executive producing HBO’s mystery thriller ‘Blackout Room’ from ‘Nine Days’ filmmaker Edson Oda. (more)
• Apple TV+ is developing an A24 series from Emily Ratajkowski, Stephanie Danler, and Lena Dunham. (more)
• Netflix has renewed ‘One Piece’ for S3 and dropped first-look images for S2, debuting in 2026. (more)

Business 🤝

• AMC Theatres Q2 revenue jumped 36% to $1.39B amid a strong box office rebound. (more)
• Jonathan Lisco has signed a multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television and HBO Max. (more)
• Netflix has signed a multi-year first-look deal with Prince Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions. (more)
• ESPN and Fox will launch a $39.99/month bundle of their new streaming services, debuting Oct. 2. (more)
• NBCUniversal will keep the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open through 2032 under a new USGA deal. (more)
• Gray Media is buying 10 Allen Media Group TV stations for $171M, with the deal expected to close in late 2025. (more)

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