WB Films in Production 2018
With 2018 not even half over, Warner Bros. Pictures Group has a slew of movies in production targeting 2019 for their release to theaters. Here's just a taste to whet your cinematic appetite!
JANUARY / FEBRUARY
The Goldfinch
Slated for release on October 11, 2019
Principal photography kicked off on January 23 for the film adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Goldfinch, about thirteen-year-old Theodore “Theo” Decker who embarks on a stirring odyssey of grief and guilt, reinvention and redemption, and even love, following the death of his mother. Through it all, he holds on to one tangible piece of hope from that terrible day...a painting of a tiny bird chained to its perch. The Goldfinch. Directed by John Crowley, the film stars Ansel Elgort as Theo and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour.
Motherless Brooklyn
No release date has been announced
Shooting began earlier this month in the Big Apple for this noir thriller from Edward Norton, who is wearing a trio of hats this time out as director, writer and star. Set in 1950s New York, the three-time Oscar nominee Norton plays a private detective afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome who is on the hunt to solve the murder of his only friend (played by Bruce Willis). Norton’s screenplay is based on Jonthan Lethem’s 1999 novel Motherless Brooklyn. The ensemble cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Alec Baldwin, Leslie Mann, Cherry Jones, Fisher Stevens and Robert Wisdom.
Shaft
Slated for release on June 14, 2019
Earlier in January, principal photography resumed for New Line Cinema’s Shaft, the latest chapter in the film franchise about the coolest private eye to ever walk the streets of New York City. Directed by Tim Story, Shaft stars Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson as the iconic John Shaft with Jessie T. Usher playing JJ (John Shaft Jr.), who seeks out his long-lost father to help him solve the mystery of his best friend’s death.
Shazam!
Slated for release on April 5, 2019
Production also kicked off this month in Toronto for director David F. Sandberg’s take on the origin story of the DC superhero Shazam!. Asher Angel plays the streetwise teenager Billy Batson, who by shouting out “Shazam!” is transformed into the adult superhero (played by former Chuck star Zachary Levi). Mark Strong is also onboard, playing the super-villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana.
APRIL
The Good Liar
Slated for a 2019 release
Principal photography for the New Line Cinema drama, The Good Liar began April 23 on location in London (future filming will also take place in Berlin). In an exciting pairing of thespians, Oscar winner Helen Mirren and two-time Oscar nominee Ian McKellen star opposite each other for the first time. Based on the acclaimed book by Nicholas Searle, Oscar-winning screenwriter Bill Condon will direct and produce from a screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher. Career con artist Roy Courtnay (McKellen) can hardly believe his luck when he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish (Mirren) online. As Betty opens her home and life to him, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life.
MAY
The Kitchen
Slated for release on September 20, 2019
Principal photography began today, May 11, on New Line Cinema’s gritty drama The Kitchen, written and directed by Andrea Berloff, who received an Oscar® nom for Straight Outta Compton. Based on the Vertigo comic book series from DC Entertainment, the film stars Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss as three 1978 Hell’s Kitchen housewives whose mobster husbands are sent to prison by the FBI. Left with little but a sharp ax to grind, the ladies take the Irish mafia’s matters into their own hands—proving unexpectedly adept at everything from running the rackets to taking out the competition…literally.