Apple Studios has set a high profile project that will reteam Marvel stalwarts Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans in Ghosted, a romantic action adventure that will be directed by Dexter Fletcher. He helmed Rocketman and finished Bohemian Rhapsody. The stars are in advanced negotiations. The script is by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers of the Deadpool films and Zombieland, and most recently scripted Escape from Spiderhead. They hatched the idea and sold it to Skydance as a pitch.
This becomes the latest deal for David Ellison’s Skydance, which is coming off the Chris Pratt-starrer The Tomorrow War, which was distributed by Amazon, the Michael B. Jordan-starrer Without Remorse, and just set Victoria Mahoney to direct Old Guard 2, the Netflix sequel. It gives another plum title for Apple, which just opened the Sundance sensation CODA, and is in production on the Martin Scorsese-directed Killers of the Flower Moon, the Will Smith-Antoine Fuqua film Emancipation, and upcoming is the Ridley Scott-directed Kitbag with Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte and Jodie Comer as his wife Josephine.
This is the latest deal for Johansson (who’ll be part of the cast of the new Wes Anderson film) since her attorneys filed a lawsuit against Disney over the studio’s decision to day and date release Black Widow for premium purchase on Disney+. The dispute has become a proving ground for stars and their reps looking to cement a new template on deals with no backend bonuses, when studios flip titles to streamers. Johansson just had her first child with husband and Saturday Night Live head writer and Weekend Update newscaster Colin Jost, and Deadline revealed that Disney responded with a barbed rebuke to Johansson while she was in labor (in fairness her lawyers filed suite during the same period), which prompted her reps to announce the birth of their son. Start date is uncertain, predicated on when she can return to work.
She and Evans worked together in three Avengers films, as well as Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. Waiting for more detail on the film and will convey when I have it.
Johansson is repped by CAA, Evans by CAA and 3 Arts, and Fletcher by CAA; Reese & Wernick are repped by WME.