A few weeks back, Tony Gilroy mentioned to Deadline that securing funding for his upcoming film “Behemoth!”—a drama featuring Oscar Isaac as a cellist—had been a challenge.
Originally reported in March, new information (via TheInSneider) now indicates that Searchlight Pictures is coming on board to both produce and finance the project. No word yet on whether this will get a theatrical release or get shipped straight to HULU. It might very well come down to its awards chances.
The project, which comes four years after Gilroy attained massive commercial and critical success on the Disney+ Star Wars series “Andor,” which has just wrapped its final season, to much acclaim.
Gilroy’s troubles in locking up financing for a non-IP project is nothing new in an industry that’s becoming more and more reluctant in greenlighting original stories. I hope he gets this one off the ground.
Gilroy, who wrote the first three Jason Bourne movies, kicked off his directing career with one of the best debuts of the 21st century, “Michael Clayton” (2007). He followed that one up with the underseen “Duplicity” (2009). His third, and last, film was the overcooked “The Bourne Legacy.”
However, to fanboys, Gilroy is best known for creating “Andor,” after having previously written “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” which first introduced the character of Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna. In fact, with ‘Rogue One’ and “Andor,” these last 10 years have been all about Star Wars for Gilroy.