Scarlett Johansson will star in Edgar Wright thriller, Bradley Cooper finds his next directorial project, and Skydance seeks the Fountain of Youth
The Chain (Universal Pictures)
Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead) is set to direct a thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. According to press materials, “something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it’s a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct.” Filming will begin in early September in London.
Is This Thing On? (Searchlight Pictures)
Longtime friends and A-listers Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett are developing a project co-starring and directed by Cooper and co-written and starring Arnett. Cooper also is producing along with Arnett and Kris Thykier, who is through his Archery Pictures banner. John Bishop will exec produce. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Cooper not only stars as composer Leonard Bernstein in Maestro but also directed, produced and co-wrote the script. The film already is predicted to be a major player this awards season. If the WGA strike is resolved by early autumn, filming will begin in September.
Fountain of Youth (Skydance)
The Ghosted team of Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody) and Skydance Media will focus on the mystical Fountain of Youth—which bestows eternal life onto anyone who drinks from it. Writer-producer James Vanderbilt’s recent high-profile successes have included Scream 6, which he co-wrote; Netflix’s Murder Mystery 2; and the streamer’s The Night Agent, the first series produced with his Project X Entertainment partners. Coming off the global smash Top Gun: Maverick, Skydance’s upcoming live-action film slate includes the seventh and eighth installments of the Mission: Impossible series, along with Ghosted, The Family Plan, The Gorge, The Old Guard 2, Heart of Stone and a reimagining of the Spy Kids franchise. Filming is set to begin on September 4.
