Ryan Gosling, The Daniels barely knew ye. In a sign of what sounds like premature casting news, the “Project Hail Mary” star is backing away from Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s new untitled event film at Universal.
Confused? Fair enough. Last week, the trades reported that, hot off the heels of Gosling’s space epic box office hit from Phil Lord and Chris Miller, he would star in the follow-up to the Daniels’ Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which took seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay in 2023.
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But evidently, Gosling was only in talks when the news broke, and scheduling appears to be the issue. The film itself remains a mystery. No plot details have been revealed, though the project has reportedly been in development for over two years.
That makes the whole thing feel a little less like a major actor-director pairing that suddenly fell apart and a little more like a deal that was announced before it was actually real. These things happen, but it is still a slightly awkward walk-back given how confidently the casting was reported just days ago.
The project, however, is still moving ahead. The Daniels are set to shoot the film in Los Angeles this summer, and Universal has already dated it for November 19, 2027. The movie also landed California tax credits, suggesting the studio is treating it like a major production, even if its lead role is suddenly back up for grabs.
Kwan, Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang are producing through their Playgrounds banner under the Daniels’ overall deal with Universal. So the package remains intact. It is Gosling who is no longer part of it.
In the meantime, the Daniels’ next feature stays exactly where it has been for a while now: one of Hollywood’s more intriguing unknowns. Gosling is out, the film is still on, and now the next obvious question is who steps in.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
