In a competitive situation, Apple Original Films has landed “Project Artemis,” a new film from Apple Studios that will star Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson and will be directed by Jason Bateman.
The original feature is written by Rose Gilroy will be produced for Apple by Apple Studios. In addition to starring, Johansson will serve as producer under her These Pictures banner, and Bateman will direct and produce through Aggregate Films. Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn will produce alongside Johansson for These Pictures.
Plot details for “Project Artemis” are being kept under wraps, but it marks an exciting pairing of stars and filmmaker. Evans and Johansson worked together for years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and were originally set to reteam for the Apple romantic comedy actioner “Ghosted” before Johansson had to drop out due to scheduling difficulties. Ana de Armas replaced Johansson in that feature, which is directed by Dexter Fletcher and currently in production.
Evans next stars in the Russo Brothers-directed spy thriller “The Gray Man” for Netflix opposite Ryan Gosling.
Bateman made his feature directorial debut with the 2013 feature “Bad Words” and subsequently helmed the 2015 film “The Family Fang.” Recently he’s been directing a bevy of episodes of his Netflix series “Ozark,” for which he won an Emmy awrd for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2019. He also directed and starred in the initial episodes of the HBO miniseries “The Outsider,” more than proving he’s an exciting and adept filmmaker in his own right.
Apple is coming off its historic Best Picture win for “CODA,” which it acquired out of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
