‘Avengers’ Co-Stars Scarlett Johansson & Chris Evans Set To Lead Red-Hot Package ‘Project Artemis’; Apple Makes Massive Deal For Jason Bateman-Directed Pic
Andreas Wiseman & Justin Kroll - March 31, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a hot one. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Chris Evans (Captain America) are set to star in buzzy new movie package Project Artemis, we can reveal, with Ozark star, director and exec-producer Jason Bateman aboard to direct.
That’s not all. Fresh off its Best Picture Oscar win for Coda, Apple has swooped on the in-demand package in a $100M+ deal. CAA cut the deal on behalf of the producers. This marks another massive purchase for the studio following a year that saw them pay more than $200M for both the Matthew Vaughn package Argyle and the untitled F1 racing pic starring Brad Pitt.
Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps but we hear the project is set against the space race. Screenplay comes from Rose Gilroy, daughter of writer-director Dan Gilroy and actress René Russo.
Two-time Oscar nominee Johansson will produce with Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn through their These Pictures production company, which commissioned and developed the script. Bateman will produce via his Aggregate Films banner.
Evans and Johansson have been looking for projects to team up on following the end of their Avengers days and came close on Ghosted, another hot package that Apple scooped up. Johansson fell off after scheduling conflicts with Ana de Armas stepping in. That film is currently filming but everything works out in the end as the two A-listers and old friends get a second chance at teaming up again.
Apple and Johansson are also teaming up on Bride, which the actress is starring in and producing for Oscar-winning director Sebastián Lelio. That project is currently in development.
Apple, which on Sunday became the first streamer to win Best Picture, is on a roll. Potentially releasing this year are Martin Scorsese’s Killer’s Of The Flower Moon and Taron Egerton starrer Tetris. The company made waves a couple of years ago with the massive deal for Antoine Fuqua package Emancipation, which could also debut in 2022 (though the Will Smith Oscar drama may delay things).
Avengers, Marriage Story and Lost In Translation star Johansson is in post on Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City. Captain America, Avengers and Knives Out star Evans is in post on Pixar’s Lightyear and the Russo’s The Gray Man.
Led by Bateman and Michael Costigan, Aggregate’s slate includes FX’s A Teacher; plus the upcoming FX limited series Under The Banner Of Heaven; Florida Man for Netflix; Lessons In Chemistry for Apple; and the Netflix feature Your Place Or Mine. Ozark launches its final seven episodes this April.
Johansson is represented by CAA and Yorn Levine. Evans is represented by CAA, 3Arts and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Bateman is represented by CAA, Lighthouse Management + Media, and Hansen Jacobson. Gilroy is represented by UTA, Mosaic, and attorney Howard Abramson.
Previous posts aside, this is a great get. This is the dude Ridley Scott has entrusted in shooting all his recent films and shot work like News of the World, Dark City, and the first 4 Pirates of the Caribbean movies (the 5th one was sorely missing his work).
The ongoing box-office series of disasters for Apple Films is making industry pundits take a renewed interest in this movie, with many fearing it will be just another Apple production that will never recoup its costs theatrically.
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“How does Apple get away with not being dinged?” is what I’m often asked by several industry sources when it comes to the tech company playing in the fields of box office.
On one hand, there’s something to be thankful for on behalf of exhibition that the streamer is embracing wide theatrical. Exhibitors need movies like air, and in the case of Argylle stateside, it’s $9 million in the bank (when you factor circuits’ rental). Then again, the overall marketplace is at an estimated $63.4M this weekend for all titles, -22% from a year ago.
We certainly don’t want Apple to abandon theatrical. However, how long can this reign of $150M-$200M under-grossing movies continue for the streamer? That’s the question. Will Apple ultimately belt-tighten after this string of uber expensive movies? Who makes an R-rated $200M movie? Because at the end of the day, every corporation wants to profit.
And there’s some really lavish spending going on: for the upcoming Greg Berlanti- directed space race romcom movie, the untitled Project Artemis, starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson. I understand Cape Canaveral was rebuilt for the $100M Apple pick-up. That’s quite a luxe spend for what I’m told is a “cute romcom” and a feat up there with installing faux cornfields in Australia on a Superman movie.
“The difference between a motion picture studio and Apple is that we develop, and develop to make features perfect,” says one rival development executive about Apple, “We don’t just willy-nilly hand over creative reign and allow chaos to reign.”
The defense has been that these movies, i.e. Argylle, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Napoleon are brand plays for the service, trinkets to drive global subs to Apple TV+. One film finance source told me that despite these movies being textbook bombs, to Apple, they’re advertising costs. Witness the ten Oscar nominations and 200 accolades (per Apple boss Tim Cook) for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and the anecdotal claim that the movie is “the most popular movie across streaming platforms” despite the fact that it hasn’t appeared in the Nielsen streaming rankings yet.
Moonwalkers, a 2015 film also about making a fake moon landing back up film just in case the main mission failed.
I can see why maybe they recast Channing Tatum instead of Chris Evans, considering how Captain America and Black Widow were such a team in Winter Soldier, and the Avengers films. Though it wouldn't be too different from the Christopher Guest films' cast, where the same actors play new roles in each new comedy.
saw an early screening of this and thought it was painfully boring. Scarlett’s really good in it, but Tatum’s just plain bad. I’m not even sure why this film was made, but I can’t imagine this doing well at the box office.
There is no "acting deficit". Her character is very vivacious. His character is a bit somber and down to earth (no pun intended). As a romantic comedy, it works. (Variety called it a "space-age sparring match of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day variety")
The chemistry was very good imho. And the supporting cast was excellent, Jim Rash is hilarious in a part that would have gone to Stanley Tucci 15 or 20 years ago.
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