'Heart Of Stone', A Spy Thriller Starring Gal Gadot, Is Headed To Netflix
Gal Gadot must have a thing for stones, because after dealing with that magic wishing stone in Wonder Woman 1984 she's starring in the Netflix movie Heart of Stone. Netflix just bought the worldwide rights to the film from Skydance, and it's the second Skydance movie to be sold-off to a streamer this week, with the Chris Pratt Skydance film The Tomorrow War going to Amazon. Heart of Stone, which hasn't begun filming yet, is an espionage thriller from writers Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder.
We're at a point right now where studios are eager to sell off many of their movies to streaming services, especially if those movies aren't considered a sure thing. And by that I mean: movies that aren't sequels or based on well-known intellectual property. Case in point: this week alone, Skydance has already sold-off two of their moves to streaming services. The Chris Pratt sci-fi film The Tomorrow War went to Apple and now Heart of Stone, a spy thriller starring Gal Gadot, is going to Netflix.
There are no real plot details at the moment, but Deadline reports the film "aspires to hatch a female-centric franchise with the action and global scale of films like Mission: Impossible and 007." Tom Harper, director of the already-forgotten Amazon movie The Aeronauts, is set to helm a script by Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures). This will be Gadot's second Netflix film – she's also starring in Red Notice alongside Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds.
The movie landscape is in a weird place right now, and while studios don't want to abandon the theatrical model, many are having to face the fact that audiences are more than willing to embrace streaming. Especially since we're still in the midst of a pandemic that shows no signs of going away anytime soon. Warner Bros. made big news late last year when they announced their 2021 theatrical slate would also simultaneously hit HBO Max. And the sad fact is we've reached a point where any movie that isn't based on something wildly popular and well-established is seen as extremely risky. With all that in mind, many studios are thinking it's better to sell off certain titles to streamers rather than risk box office failure.
As for Heart of Stone, it's hard to form any real opinion based on the little info we have right now. I like some of Greg Rucka's work, but I thought The Old Guard was awful. And while I think Gadot can be a memorable performer from time to time her work in Wonder Woman 1984 was so stiff and awkward that I don't know how much interest I have in her leading yet another franchise. We'll see.