Heart of Stone (2023)

[Canada]

Source: Deadline

Skydance media sets Gal Gadot to star in ‘Heart Of Stone’, original spy franchise in the mold of ‘Mission: Impossible’ & 007

EXCLUSIVE: In an eight-figure deal that puts her at the upper levels of the actress salary scale, Gal Gadot has been set to star in Heart of Stone, an original international spy thriller hatched by Skydance Media that endeavors to put a female spin on action franchises like Mission: Impossible and 007. Tom Harper, who helmed The Aeronauts and Wild Rose, is in talks to direct.

The script is by Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and Allison Schroeder, latter of whom was Oscar nominated for Hidden Figures. The film will be produced by Skydance Media’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger, along with Gadot and her Pilot Wave producing partner Jaron Varsano, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn. Skydance Media is keeping options open on whether this will be a theatrical or streaming bow.

Gadot, whose next Patty Jenkins collaboration Wonder Woman 1984 has been set to debut Christmas Day on HBO Max, will next star in the Kenneth Branagh-directed Death on the Nile. She also recently wrapped Red Notice for Netflix, the Rawson Thurber Marshall-directed heist drama she stars in with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds. She continues to gravitate toward tentpole projects, including Cleopatra, the Jenkins-directed period pic that Laeta Kalogridis is writing based on a story by Gadot. Paramount acquired that project in heated bidding.

Beyond The Aeronauts and Wild Rose, Harper’s directing credits include the BBC miniseries War & Peace, along with Peaky Blinders, Misfits and This Is England ’86. He also directed the pilot of AMC’s The Son.

Skydance’s upcoming films include its Paramount partnership on the Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick, the Michael B. Jordan-starrer Without Remorse, Snake Eyes, the seventh and eighth installments in the Mission: Impossible series. Skydance Media also has The Tomorrow War.