Chris McKay’s ‘Ghost Draft’: Betty Gilpin & J.K. Simmons in Talks to Join Chris Pratt & Yvonne Strahovski

Aug 19, 2019

Paramount and Skydance’s upcoming film, under the working title of ‘Ghost Draft,’ now has Betty Gilpin and J.K. Simmons in talks to join the cast.

Gilpin is currently starring in the Netflix series ‘GLOW,’ which just released its third season. She was recently in Gail Mancuso’s ‘A Dog’s Journey’ and Michael Dowse’s ‘Stuber.’ Next year, she has Nicolas Pesce’s ‘Grudge’ remake, releasing January 3, 2020, and another film from Michael Dowse: Netflix’s ‘Coffee & Kareem.’

Simmons was recently in Hulu’s revival of ‘Veronica Mars’ and reprised his role of J. Jonah Jameson in Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Far from Home.’ Other credits include the Sam Raimi ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy, as well as Damien Chazelle’s ‘Whiplash,’ which got him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Next, he will appear in STX Entertainment’s ’21 Bridges,’ releasing November 22, and Amazon’s animated series ‘Invincible,’ premiering in 2020.

Moreover, the rest of the cast and their roles:

  • Chris Pratt (‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame’)
    • A man drafted to fight in a future war where the fate of humanity relies on his ability to confront his past.
  • Yvonne Strahovski (‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ ‘The Predator’)
    • A woman that Pratt’s character meets in the future, who has a connection to his past.
  • Ryan Kiera Armstrong (‘The Art of Racing in the Rain,’ ‘It: Chapter Two’)
    • Possibly the daughter of Pratt’s character.

If deals close, Simmons will play the father of Pratt’s character, while Gilpin’s role is unknown.

The premise of the sci-fi thriller is below:

“Set in a future where humanity is losing a war against aliens. To turn the tide, scientists draft soldiers from the past to fight the war.”

Meanwhile, Chris McKay (‘Robot Chicken,’ ‘The Lego Batman Movie’) serves as director. The screenplay is from Zach Dean (‘Deadfall,’ ’24 Hours to Live’) and Bill Dubuque (‘The Accountant,’ ‘Ozark’).

Further, the crew, so far, comprises of:

  • Cinematographer Larry Fong (‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,’ ‘Kong: Skull Island’)
  • Costume designer Betsy Heimann (‘Pulp Fiction,’ ‘Green Book’)
  • Production designer Peter Wenham (‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’)
  • Second unit director/Stunt coordinator Thomas Robinson Harper (‘Pacific Rim: Uprising,’ ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’)

Lastly, filming is targeting a start date of September 10th, and a wrap date of January 16th. Back in April, we at the GWW reported that shooting locations for the film would include Atlanta, Georgia and Iceland. We can also confirm the Dominican Republic is another location.

Paramount has yet to give the film a release date.

Source: Variety and The Hollywood Reporter