Russ: It all starts with a mysterious finger sent to the school principal.
Nadia: I'm Nadia.
Russ: And I'm Russ.
Nadia: It's Friday, August 28th, and on the show today, we've got three big stories shaking up the industry.
Nadia: The Busan International Film Festival just tapped some huge names—we're talking global superstars—to curate its most prestigious program.
Russ: Then in India, two major studios are joining forces on a new slate of films, and they're kicking it off with a massive crime thriller.
Nadia: And a new 'Big Little Lies' book may have just laid out the entire plot for a third season of the HBO series.
Russ: The one with the finger.
Nadia: Alright, let's start with the 31st Busan International Film Festival, or BIFF. They just announced curators for Carte Blanche, which is their showcase where top filmmakers get to pick their favorite new films.
Russ: Okay, so who's picking? Is it just more directors patting each other on the back?
Nadia: Well, the list is pretty impressive: Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, Korean director Kim Jeewoon of 'I Saw the Devil' fame, and Hong Kyung-pyo, the cinematographer who shot 'Parasite'.
Russ: Hong Kyung-pyo, okay, that gets my attention. The man who shot 'Parasite' and 'Burning' can do no wrong. But what does this actually mean for anyone outside the festival circuit?
Nadia: It shows where the industry is looking for inspiration. But the real news here is in their Story Market, where they're adding a Thai remake project and new titles from Hong Kong.
Russ: Story Market. That sounds… transactional.
Nadia: It is! That's the point. It's where intellectual property gets bought and sold. It's where producers discover the next 'Squid Game' or the next big international remake.
Russ: So you're saying this isn't about celebrating cinema, it's a shopping mall for Netflix and HBO executives?
Nadia: [laughs] It's both. The festival brings the prestige, the market brings the business. A strong showing for Thai and Hong Kong IP here means we could see those stories getting global deals in the next few years.
Russ: So, we should look out for more Thai horror and Hong Kong action films hitting our streaming services around 2028.
Nadia: Exactly. This is the very beginning of that pipeline.
Russ: Okay, so what about that huge deal in India?
Nadia: It's a big one. Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios have announced a slate partnership. According to Variety, they're kicking it off with 'Daayra,' a crime thriller starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Russ: Okay, I know those names. Kareena Kapoor Khan is a megastar. But what's the significance of the two studios partnering up?
Nadia: On paper, it's a perfect match. Junglee is known for high-concept, acclaimed films like 'Badhaai Ho.' Pen Studios is a distribution behemoth. Think of it as the production brain partnering with the distribution muscle.
Russ: So they make the fancy meal, and the other guys own the delivery trucks. Got it. But does a 'slate partnership' mean they're only going to make movies together now?
Nadia: Not exclusively, but it's a multi-film deal. The idea is to create a steady stream of content. It de-risks the process. Instead of betting everything on one blockbuster, they're betting on a whole portfolio.
Russ: Which means we could get some more interesting, less 'four-quadrant-blockbuster' films... or it could just mean more of the same, from a single pipeline.
Nadia: That's the billion-rupee question. But starting with a crime thriller directed by Meghna Gulzar, who did 'Talvar' and 'Raazi,' suggests they're aiming for quality.
Russ: I hope so. Fewer committees, more good movies. That's all I ask for.
Nadia: This partnership makes that more likely, not less.
Nadia: Alright Russ, time to talk about that finger.
Russ: Finally! So, Liane Moriarty wrote a sequel book to 'Big Little Lies' called 'Big Little Truths'. And the plot sounds... unhinged.
Nadia: [laughs] According to the Variety piece—and spoiler alert for anyone who wants to read the book—it kicks off with a severed finger being mailed to the principal of Otter Bay School.
Russ: Whose finger is it?! Wait—don't tell me. But this whole thing feels weird. Are they just writing books now to serve as scripts for TV shows? Season 2 of the show felt so aimless, and this feels like a desperate course correction.
Nadia: That is exactly the industry take. Season 2 went off-book and was… divisive. This is Moriarty coming back to the story, seemingly to lay the groundwork for a potential Season 3 that has a solid narrative spine.
Russ: Divisive is a polite word. It was a mess. So is HBO admitting they screwed up?
Nadia: No one is admitting anything, but it's highly unusual. Usually the show adapts the book. Here, the author seems to be writing a new book specifically to be adapted by the show. It flips the entire IP pipeline.
Russ: It's the ultimate 'show, don't tell' fix. Instead of a memo, she wrote a whole novel. So what does this mean for viewers, besides, you know, spoilers?
Nadia: It means 'Big Little Lies' Season 3 is very likely happening, and it's going to be a wild murder mystery. The book's plot has Madeline, Celeste, and Jane trying to figure out who the finger belongs to and if it's connected to them.
Russ: As long as it's not a dream sequence and the drama feels real again, I'm in. But if I see one more moody shot of a car on the Bixby Bridge... I'm out.
Nadia: I think this guarantees the drama will be... tangible.
Russ: [groans] Okay, let's recap before you make another pun.
Nadia: Fair enough. The Busan Film Festival is bringing in A-list curators and boosting its story market with new IP.
Russ: In India, a new partnership between Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios is set to launch a slate of films, starting with a major crime thriller.
Nadia: And a new 'Big Little Lies' book is paving a very strange, very specific, and slightly gruesome path for a third season.
Russ: Before we go, Nadia, you know what today is, August 28th?
Nadia: It's Friday, which is cause for celebration. But I have a feeling you have something more specific in mind.
Russ: It is National Bow Tie Day. A day of sartorial elegance. I just want to put that out into the universe.
Nadia: [laughs] That's our show. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Monday!
Russ: Until then, try to keep all your fingers attached.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.