Robert De Niro, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, More Join David O. Russell's Mystery Film
David O. Russell, the filmmaker behind films like American Hustle, Three Kings, The Fighter, and Silver Linings Playbook, has been relatively MIA from Hollywood since directing 2015's Joy. But he's back to direct a new mystery movie that might have one of the most stacked casts ever, and it's just strengthened its ranks.
Deadline reports that Robert De Niro, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alessandro Nivola have joined the star-studded ensemble for the new David O. Russell movie.
The yet-untitled film, which is based on an original idea from the Oscar-nominated director, already stars a cast of heavy-hitters including Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington, with Rami Malek and Zoe Saldana recently boarding the project as well. Production is currently underway in California for the New Regency film, which will be distributed by Disney under New Regency's deal with 20th Century Studios.
The fact that Russell, who has a history of on-set abuse, is directing a Disney film is almost as baffling as the fact that he's gotten such a vast array of rising and established talent to be in his film. Anya Taylor-Joy, for example, is one of the hottest rising stars in Hollywood right now, with involvement in both buzzy Netflix shows and anticipated indie projects. Russell has always managed to land star-studded ensembles — the biggest, being the Bale, Lawrence, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper showcase in American Hustle — but this film blows the others out of the water. Russell has always been an actors' director, often allowing his performers to let loose without any regard for narrative coherence (again, American Hustle), which is ironic considering his alleged behavior on set has alienated past stars (he and George Clooney physically clashed while making Three Kings, and he has reportedly harassed and/or groped several women).
In late 2017, around the time that the Harvey Winstein scandal broke, this history of past behavior led Amazon to drop its plans to work with Russell on a pricey TV series which would have starred Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore. But it seems like he still has De Niro's number, and called him up for this mystery project.
New Regency's Arnon Milchan will produce this David O. Russell mystery film alongside Matthew Budman and Anthony Katagas. We'll expect to find out more about the film, including its title, at some point in the future.