Back in 2024, Stone revealed that he was working on “one more ambitious narrative film” and had signed with Atlas Artists for representation in all areas to “make that dream a reality.”
Then, in the fall, I reported that European backers had stepped in, and that the mysterious film was “White Lies,” a project Stone has been trying to make for over a decade, with Benicio del Toro once attached to the lead role. Sadly, I gave an update, only a few weeks later, reporting that the project had fallen apart.
Now, it looks like the project is back on, and that Josh Hartnett now has the lead role. Not just that, the film is set to start production next week — pitstops in Thailand, Rome and Bulgaria are part of the planning. This will be a Three-and-a-half-month production. No word yet on the supporting cast.
Stone, 78, writes and directs “White Lies” which follows Hartnett as a child of divorce now repeating his parents’ mistakes in his own marriage and with his troubled son. Feeling trapped, he embarks on a lust-filled quest for freedom, only to become more adrift. His path changes when he meets a woman whose life is the opposite of his own, sparking a journey of rediscovery.
Stone has not directed a narrative feature since 2016’s “Snowden,” a hiatus of more than 10 years and the longest gap without a film in his career. Stone has admitted he was struggling to secure financing this last decade, suggesting he had been “blacklisted” from Hollywood over his 2017 documentary about Vladimir Putin.
From 1986 through 1997, Stone was a creative force with “Salvador” (’86), “Platoon” (’87), “Wall Street” (’87), “Born on the Fourth of July” (’89), and “JFK” (’91). You could extend that run to include “Natural Born Killers” (’94), which has its fans, “Nixon” (’95), and his underrated 1997 pulp-noir “U-Turn.”
More casting is set to be announced in the coming days. I’ll update this article as more is known.