EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a hot one. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Chris Evans (Captain America) will star in the lively new film package, Project Artemis, we can reveal, with Ozark star, director and executive producer Jason Bateman on board to direct.
That’s not all. Fresh off its Oscar win for Best Picture for Coda, Apple has bought the coveted package, valued at over $100 million. CAA completed the deal on behalf of the producers. This is another massive buy for the studio after a year in which they paid more than $200 million for both the Matthew Vaughn Argyle pack and the untitled F1 racing image starring Brad Pitt.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but we’re hearing that the project is anti-Space Race. The screenplay was written by Rose Gilroy, daughter of writer/director Dan Gilroy and actress René Russo.
Two-time Academy Award nominee Johansson will co-produce with Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn through their production company, These Pictures, which commissioned and developed the screenplay. Bateman will produce through his Aggregate Films banner.
Evans and Johansson have been scouting for projects to team up on after their Avengers days are over, and have come close to Ghosted, another hot package Apple has snapped up. Johansson dropped after scheduling conflicts with Ana de Armas filling in. This movie is currently being filmed but it all works out in the end as the two A-listers and old friends get a second chance to reunite.
Apple and Johansson are also collaborating on Bride, which the actress stars in and is producing for Oscar winner Sebastián Lelio. This project is currently under development.
Apple, which became the first streamer to win the Best Picture award on Sunday, is on the road to success. Possible releases this year include Martin Scorsese’s Killer’s Of The Flower Moon and Tetris starring Taron Egerton. The company made waves a couple of years ago with the massive deal for the Antoine Fuqua Emancipation package, which could also release in 2022 (though Will Smith’s Oscar drama could delay things).
Avengers, Marriage Story and Lost In Translation star Johansson is on the post in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City. Captain America, Avengers and Knives Out star Evans stars in Pixar’s Lightyear and The Gray Man by Russo.
Led by Bateman and Michael Costigan, FX’s Aggregate A Teacher roster includes; plus the upcoming FX limited series Under The Banner Of Heaven; Florida Man for Netflix; chemistry lessons for Apple; and the Netflix feature Your Place Or Mine. Ozark will premiere its final seven episodes in April.
Johansson is represented by CAA and Yorn Levine. Evans is represented by CAA, 3Arts and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Bateman is represented by CAA, Lighthouse Management + Media and Hansen Jacobson. Gilroy is represented by UTA, Mosaic and attorney Howard Abramson.
Apple, CAA and representatives declined to comment.